The Teachers' Leagues of Latin America (Christian communities of public
school teachers) join our voices and our hearts in this hemispheric
mobilization of the Cry of the Excluded for Work, Justice and Life.

From our schools, together with the most dispossessed and forgotten
people, we assert that:

- This dehumanizing neoliberal system has a human cost, prioritizing
the payment of the external debt above men and women's right to life.

- In many of our countries there is no national education project or
long-term planning.

- The educational reforms force the student into the mold of unskilled
labor, training him only in order to become part of the market. In
Paraguay 50% of children do not finish grade school.

- The instability of the labor market and unemployment of teachers is
increasing; in Peru, 85000 teachers are unemployed.

- The educational budget is diminishing and privatization is
accelerating. In El Alto, Bolivia, we work with children in schools
without doors or windows, without chairs, without bathrooms...

In this cry, we assert that education is a fundamental right and should
be made available to every citizen in the world. The State needs to
assure that free, high-quality schools are within reach of everyone; a
secular public school is an excellent place to promote the construction
of a just society which respects individuals and their uniqueness.

We are committed to continuing the defense of the public school and
contributing to an alternative educational project which includes the
development of democracy, the centrality of children and adolescents, and
gender equality.

For this reason, we join with the parents and students who fight day
after day for work, justice, and life. We reaffirm our choice to stand
for the poorest and for their values: simplicity, solidarity,
generosity, and concern for others... universal values which will bring
about God's Kingdom.

For work, justice, and life!

Teachers' Leagues of Latin America,
Mailing Address: Echeverria 1251 (3500) Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina;
Fax: 00543722420517/439996/439986