{"id":6251,"date":"2017-09-22T19:02:19","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T02:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=6251"},"modified":"2017-09-23T10:37:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-23T17:37:36","slug":"bernie-at-ccsf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/09\/22\/bernie-at-ccsf\/","title":{"rendered":"“Bernie Sanders praises CCSF\u2019s free tuition program amid \u2018pivotal\u2019 moment for country” by Laura Waxmann"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nBernie speaking to overflow crowd at CCSF celebrating Free City! on September 22, 2017 (Photo by Mike Zonta)<\/em><\/p>\n

September 22, 2017 (SFExaminer.com)<\/p>\n

In sharing his vision of universal health care and free higher education for all Americans, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday praised City College of San Francisco\u2019s move to make tuition free for San Francisco residents as \u201ca model for the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause [don\u2019t] you think that young people and working class people all over this country are not asking their local leaders, \u2018How come in San Francisco they are making college tuition free, why don\u2019t you it in our community?\u2019\u201d said Sanders, addressing students, faculty and CCSF leaders who embarked on their first semester of tuition-free courses in August.<\/p>\n

Enrollment at the community college has soared since the Free City College program rolled out in its pilot stage, attracting at least 6,450 new students this fall who have signed up for credit courses. The program is funded by a real-estate transfer tax passed last November \u2014 an effort led by San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim.<\/p>\n

\u201cCSSF has shown that when people get involved politically, it makes a difference,\u201d said Sanders. \u201cOur job is to put together an agenda that speaks to needs of working people [and] to elect officials that have the guts to fight and implement that agenda. You have increased participant enrollment for San Francisco residents by 51 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students and teachers at CCSF say that they are already feeling that difference.<\/p>\n

SEE RELATED:\u00a0\u2018Huge\u2019 enrollment boost evident in first semester of free CCSF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for two years and just the energy is different, in the classroom and behind the scenes,\u201d said 30-year-old CCSF sophomore Lauren Haggins.<\/p>\n

Following an accreditation crisis in 2012 that contributed to major cuts in classes and a plummet in enrollment, an English teacher who declined to give her name but stood in line to hear \u201cthe political legend\u201d speak, said that teachers at the college feel that their \u201cjobs make sense again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vermont senator and former presidential hopeful visited San Francisco on Friday to promote his recently introduced single-payer Medicare for all plan at a nurses\u2019 rally at Yerba Buena Gardens.<\/p>\n

Hours later, at CCSF\u2019s Ocean Campus at 50 Phelan Ave., Sanders was met by an enthused crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to hear him speak on what CCSF is doing locally in response to what could be a nationwide effort \u2014 investing in education,\u201d said 25-year-old CCSF freshman Shirley Acuna.<\/p>\n

Some 1,500 initially signed up to hear Sanders speak, exceeding the college\u2019s seating capacity. CCSF spokesperson Jeff Hamilton said that 750 people received tickets to the event and watched Sanders from within the Diego Rivera Theater, two overflow rooms and a courtyard where speakers had been set up.<\/p>\n

Following speeches by CCSF, San Francisco and student leaders, Sanders addressed federal cuts by President Donald Trump in health care, education, environmental protections and legal protections afforded to undocumented immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a very pivotal moment in American history,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIf there is anything positive we can say about Donald Trump \u2014 and there is not much \u2014 it is that he has made it very clear what the stakes are when we talk about the future of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeming it an \u201cinternational embarrassment\u201d that students \u201cwho want a higher education and are unable to get it\u201d because \u201ctheir family lacks the money,\u201d Sanders praised CCSF. \u201cInstead of denying people what they are entitled to, you are giving people exactly what they need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bernie speaking to overflow crowd at CCSF celebrating Free City! on September 22, 2017 (Photo by Mike Zonta) September 22, 2017 (SFExaminer.com) In sharing his vision of universal health care and free higher education for all Americans, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday praised City College of San Francisco\u2019s move… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6251"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6265,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6251\/revisions\/6265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}