Strengthening demand: Citizen Coalition for Education- Mexico

We are pleased to share information on the newly formed Coalición Ciudadana por la Educación, (Citizen Coalition for Education), a group of civil society organizations and individuals in Mexico pressing for comprehensive education reform. The coalition is comprised of some 30 politically diverse organizations as well as over 150 individuals. Particularly noteworthy is the group’s emphasis on reducing the role of the Mexican Teachers’ Union—SNTE, as stated in their manifesto: “to avoid union leaders’ interference in the education system, particularly in the development of the teaching profession”. The group has demanded a formal response and reform strategy from the government no later than November 20, 2011.

This initiative may represent a trend in the region towards high-level and diverse actors joining forces to create an education lobby with clout. A similar initiative is occurring contemporaneously in the Dominican Republic around the national education budget. There, the Coalición Educación Digna, (Dignified Education Coalition) a group composed of over 200 organizations, is exhorting the government to adhere to its own law of spending of 4% of its GDP on public education.

What effect initiatives like these can ultimately have on their respective causes is not yet clear, though their growth and existence may represent a growing education constituency concerned with substantive and concrete topics in education reform. In this respect they follow along the lines of high-level, business and civil-society led initiatives in the US such Eli Broad’s “Ed in ’08,” which focused on the 2008 general election debates and Michelle Rhee’s new Students’ First campaign, aimed at representing the interests of students in policy debates. Each attests to the growth of social participation in education reform and reflects a citizenry that is more informed and demanding of their governments regarding educational quality.