What role do high schools have
in advancing economic democracy?
“It has been said that cooperativism is an economic movement that is also educational. We might say the reverse as well: that cooperativism is an educational movement that utilizes economic action.”
Click here to see the overview deck from our November 2021 Zoom Info session.
Click here to see the recording of the Zoom Info session.
At BCDI we believe that the Bronx can solve long-standing challenges of inequality using assets and resources that we have in our communities. Bronxites have a long history of organizing for big and necessary change to improve our schools and communities, from organizing for education justice to housing justice, healthcare for all, and equitable development for our neighborhoods, we have the vision and values to create the solutions we need.
Developing a democratic economy where we see reduced inequality of opportunities and wealth means building schools that equip and prepare all our people for a democratic society where ownership, wealth, power, and decisions are broadly shared -- in our politics, and our workplaces and communities. Creating schools that don't just teach about democracy and justice, but also practice them, has been the work of generations of organizers and leaders here and across the US, and is an essential part of creating equitable economies and economic development.
The Bronx already has a history of these democratic institutions that create wealth, power, and opportunity for working people. From labor unions to reclaimed housing cooperatives and worker owned businesses like Co-Op City, Amalgamated Houses, and Cooperative Home Care Associates, our history, our present, and our future lies in cooperation and economic democracy.
Join the Educators for Economic Democracy Working Group to be connected with other educators, researchers, and youth workers who are integrating concepts and practices of economic democracy into their schools through curriculum and extra-curricular activities.
You’ll receive occasional notifications about opportunities for teach-ins, walking tours, and curriculum workshopping days bringing educators and youth together to create an educational pathway in the Bronx that centers racial justice and builds skills for democratic leadership and shared wealth.