Since that ideal is not being lived up to, people have come together to let their voices be heard.

The Occupy Movement is an exercise in direct democracy where people are employing their power as citizens.

What can I do?

Arm yourself with information. For a listing of some resources to get you started, please visit: http://rebuildthedream.com/resources/ teachins/more_info.pdf Move your money away from large banks and into local credit unions. To find out more, visit: www.moveyourmoneyproject.org www.lovemycreditunion.org Occupy San Antonio is permanently based at Hemisfair Park. Please join us any time. For news and event listings, please go to: www.occupysatx.com Or find us on facebook. There are many ways you can help, be it with your physical presence at events, cooking, designing flyers, speaking up at city council meetings, or donating materials or supplies. Whatever your talent,

Cuts to education are how we the people are paying for a deficit that was created by laws which benefit the top 1% of the population. Teachers and parents are told that there is not enough money in the budget to address their needs. However, there has been enough money to bail out banks that made bad decisions with peoples money. There has been enough money to give the wealthiest 1% of the population a tax break. And there is enough money that many large banks and large corporations do not have to pay any taxes. Teachers and teachers unions are joining the Occupy Movement because they want their voices heard as well. Teachers are part of the 99%.

An information document By Occupy San Antonio Press

you can help.

To be more informed about the Occupy Movement, please visit: www.occupysatx.com www.occupytogether.org www.occupywallstreet.org www.nycga.net

Why Occupy? Democracy is generally defined

as a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in decisions that affect their lives.

Who are the 99%?

have left thousands of educators without jobs. (Those that remain have to deal with more work, overcrowded classrooms, and less support staff.) Many have taken pay cuts or lost benefits. Some have lost the right to collective bargaining. Teachers are left feeling as if their voices are not being heard.

study released by The National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA), teachers collectively spent $3.5 billion, out of pocket, on supplies and instructional materials for the 20092010 school year. This amount is actually down from previous years, as teachers themselves are feeling the downturn of the economy. However, the National Education Association (NEA) estimates that closing tax loopholes would have provided some $9.8 billion to public education, including some $915 million to Texas which could have been used to:

Who profits? Only the super wealthy gain from tax 99% of the people in this country are
not being represented by the government. Corporations and the superwealthy get to dictate the course of this country by funding lobbyists, buying commercial ads and space, and contributing to political campaigns. (Remember that under U.S. law, corporations are considered people and political spending is considered a form of free speech. Those with more money to spend, have more free speech.) Politicians are beholden to the financial interests that purchased them. People without money are left without a voice. breaks. Over $716 billion has been lost to tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% in this country over the last decade. Our economy is suffering for it. Subsidies, offshore tax havens, and legal loopholes in tax code allow corporations to pay little to nothing in taxes each year. The official marginal tax rate for corporations is 35%. If all corporations actually paid that, the government would have brought in an additional $219 billion in 2010 alone. (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Boeing, & GE not only paid $0 in taxes, they qualified for a tax rebate last year.) The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that as much as $100 billion in tax revenues is lost to tax havens every year. Billions of dollars in revenue is lost every year due to laws that benefit 1% of the people in this country. The Federal and State governments then try to make up for this budget shortfall by cutting needed services. We need to bail out schools not banks. While tax rebate checks are being sent out to corporations, many teachers spend their own money in order to do their job properly. According to a 2010

pay the salaries of 11,600 teachers and other school employees; support programs for 960,000 lowincome students; assist 450,000 students with disabilities; provide college financial aid to 540,000 young people; or enroll 33,300 additional lowincome children in Head Start.

Why are teachers the 99%? Teachers see firsthand the effects
budget cuts have on students and on fellow teachers. Under our current economic and political system, teachers are overworked and under valued. Recent state and federal budget cuts

Even though research has shown that, dollar for dollar, investing in public education grows the economy more than tax cuts and corporate subsidies, the US and Texas governments chose to sell our future short. Cutting education funding and allowing corporations to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes is undermining the efforts of teachers and parents to adequately prepare young people for the jobs of the future.