On Thursday morning around 10:00a.m., several teachers of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), led by Marco Antonio Pacheco Peña, took over the Tijuana – Tecata toll booths in a protest.
These teachers, members of the Magisterial Resistance Movement, acted upon a warning that they had made days before on taking over the toll booths in which they let motorists pass through the booths without paying the federal quota that are imposed on these roads.
This was as a protest against the educational reform promoted by the Mexican federal government, which through this demonstration the teachers believe that they will put some pressure on the authorities.
On Teacher's Day, May 15 , this same group of teachers have threaten to take over the San Ysidro checkpoint, which is one of the busiest checkpoints in the world in order to draw the attention of the national and international media, so that the world can see their rejection on the Educational Reform in Mexico.
The Educational Reform in Mexico was approved by Congress in December 2012, and calls for the creation of a professional system for hiring, evaluating and promoting teachers. Currently, it is presumed that teaching positions are often bought or inherited.
Teachers are not against evaluation or against the idea that the best should be chosen for the teaching career. They consider that everything that has been done in the classrooms should not be disqualified without knowing the conditions that they face and what they have been able to accomplish.
In yesterdays protest, the teachers only were there t until about noon and where being guarded by federal police, who did not intervene, and just arrived on the scene as spectators and as a preventive measure.
Motorists were not affected in this incident and had a free pass to the roads. They were only asked to be informed of the reasons for this kind of movement. There were no mishaps or any type of violence; everything was peaceful at this protest.
Pacheco made an announcement that on Tuesday the Magisterial Resistance Movement will meet to determine whether to take over the San Ysidro border crossing or not on May 15, just like they did a few years ago to reject the amendments to the ISSSTE Law
Joy.Ruvalcaba@Sandiegored.com
Omar.Martinez@Sandiegored.com
