Don WILLIAMS describes Destination Higher Education, which introduces students to the UCSC community. Photo by Jessica Tran.

As 33 high school students pile out of buses into Cowell Circle, volunteers, interns and coordinators of Destination Higher Education (DHE) greet them with hugs and welcome signs. These students will spend their next three days immersed in UC Santa Cruz, courtesy of DHE, a Student Initiated Outreach program (SIO).

DHE introduces underprivileged high school students and potential transfer students from low-income communities to the benefits of a university environment. Held from April 11 to 13, the program offered introductory workshops ranging from financial aid to admissions guidelines and bonding activities for the students, each of whom has been accepted to UCSC for Fall Quarter 2013.

DHE is one of several SIO programs funded by Engaging Education, a UCSC student outreach and retention center. Other SIO programs include Oportunidades Rumbo A La Educación (ORALE) and A Step Forward (ASF), both of which collaborate with DHE.

Due to decreased funding and housing limitations, DHE has been forced to cut back on the number of students they take into the program, said DHE coordinator Jabari Brown.

“This year is about 33 participants, as opposed to other years there have been about 50, 60, 70,” Brown said.

This economic downturn is one share in the broad spectrum of programs affected by budget cuts, said director of admissions Michael McCawley.

“Budget cuts have affected all of us,” McCawley said. It is part of the landscape that we’re all dealing with.”

Chancellor Blumenthal helps fund DHE — he meets each dollar raised for DHE with $1.25 — but DHE would like to see permanent funding granted, said Fithawi Kudus, coordinator for DHE and UCSC fourth-year. For now, McCawley said the key to sustaining SIO programs is learning to stretch the dollar in different ways and seeking alternative methods to deliver the same content.

Despite these funding limitations, for Kudus, the mission of the weekend could still be made a reality.

“The goal for me is a 100 percent yield rate. Every student that we bring up on this program can walk away saying, ‘There’s no way that I’m not going to UC Santa Cruz,’” Kudus said.

For Amari Williams, DHE intern and first-year, DHE was crucial in deciding which university to attend.

“If it wasn’t for that program or the program we’re doing here,” Amari Williams said, “I wouldn’t have come here.”

Throughout the program, the students also learned about key campus figures and organizations. Chancellor Blumenthal and director of Rainbow Theater Don Williams were key speakers at the opening and closing events. DHE students also had the opportunity to participate in breakout events, where they met with organizations such as the African Student Union and ethnic fraternities and sororities. DHE intern Shiku Muhire said part of these events’ purpose was to allow participants to engage with African-American and other communities DHE students can participate in if they choose to attend UCSC.

“[The groups give] students a little better perspective about what their own community will look like when they step foot on campus,” Muhire said.

Since its founding about 15 years ago by UCSC graduate Keith Curry, DHE has been committed to welcoming and encouraging voices that are often unheard on college campuses, Amari Williams said. Curry offers one of these DHE members a $2,000 scholarship following attendance of the program each year.

While DHE primarily focuses on black high school students, this year the program encouraged participation from a greater range of ethnic groups from underprivileged communities, Amari Williams said.

“It’s about not just thinking they’re stuck in this one program or one community,” she said. “We want to let them know everyone has their certain struggles, but at the end of the day we’re all the same.”

This year, ORALE, which focuses on Latino and Latina UCSC students, and ASF, which is geared toward new Filipino UCSC students, hosted their outreach programs April 11–13. These programs came together with DHE several times during the weekend to host collaborative events, said DHE coordinator Jabari Brown.

“The great thing about DHE is that it’s not a program alone in its mission to bring diversity to this campus,” said Fiwathi Kudus, DHE coordinator.

Continual support for students who decide to attend UCSC in the fall is crucial, Kudus said. Mentoring and tutoring are essential to easing first-years who haven’t traditionally had as much support as other students into the college environment.

“While this is an outreach program and we show them the vision here on the UCSC campus for the students,” Kudus said, “it’s also about having the retention programs and maintaining these programs, keeping them alive and going and spreading the knowledge.”

Amari Williams would like to see changes with the program in coming years, mainly concerning the degree of campus participation in DHE.

“I would like to see more people reaching out toward the program,” she said, “Not just us reaching out to them, but them trying to help us out because that’s actually what makes the students want to be here.”

Illustration by Christine Hipp

President Obama was re-elected Nov. 6, taking 303 electoral votes. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took 206. It is expected that Obama’s platform going into the next four years will continue his support of public education.

Throughout his presidency, President Obama has increased federal spending on higher education by $8.3 billion a year and has advocated for greater federal involvement in education. He also passed a stimulus bill in Feb. 2009 that was used to create a grant program called Race to the Top.

Race to the Top funneled $4.4 billion into competitive grants, which reward states that create the best quality of education. The latest winners of the grants were announced in 2012, bringing the total number of winning states to 22. Winners included Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. According to The Economist, states that won “had to adopt certain standards and find ways of improving recruitment, rewarding teachers, promoting charters and turning around the lowest performing schools.”

In his re-election speech, Obama stressed the need for greater universal access to education.

“We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers,” Obama said.

Differing in opinion on how to best address issues in education, Republican nominee Mitt Romney advocated for less federal government involvement in education. Romney ran on the platform that states should have jurisdiction over concerns in education and the federal government is best when minimized.

President Obama has said he plans to not only invest in education, but also to reform it.

“We’re going to give more money to those schools that are serious about reform,” said Obama in a 2012 interview with NBC. “We’re not going to let people make excuses and suggest that it’s just a money problem.”

Improvements to education have become more of an issue than ever for voters who have begun to lose faith in the effectiveness of public schooling. A Gallup poll released earlier this year found that American’s confidence in public schooling is lower than it has ever been, looking at data beginning in 1973.

Secretary of education Arne Duncan said during Obama’s term there has been more support for public education.

“There has been more change in state education in the past few years than in the previous decade,” Duncan said.

Or maybe you’re an out-of-state student. If so, then your total cost is $56,169. That means you are monetarily more valuable to the University of California — roughly $20,000 more valuable.

On May 15, California State Senator Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 22, a bill proposing an out-of-state UC enrollment cap of 10 percent. In an article in the Los Angeles Times, Rubio said out-of-state students will make up 23 percent of all new freshmen admitted to the UC this fall, up from 11 percent in 2009. We cannot let this continue.

For the UC administration, accepting increasing numbers of out-of-state students is a convenient solution. When out-of-state students are able to attend a UC, the university receives more money and everyone wins — except California students.

The UC administration is frequently attacked for raising student fees, and with good reason. With the current level of UC tuition, it’s advantageous for recent graduates of California high schools to attend, say, the University of Montana, where out-of-state tuition and living expenses cost $5,229 less than UCSC undergraduates pay.

Illustration by Leigh Douglas

The UC already has a policy in place limiting out-of-state enrollment systemwide. Rubio’s bill would extend the policy to limit out-of-state enrollment to each campus, since the percentage is higher than 10 percent at certain campuses, including UCs Berkeley and Los Angeles. This would mean a more even spread of out-of-state students across every campus, giving California students a better chance of getting into one of the more competitive UCs.

SCA 22 comes at a crucial time for California higher education. With a few exceptions, the California State University system has announced that it will not be admitting new students for the spring semester 2013. Community colleges like Santa Monica College and Santa Barbara City College are so impacted by out-of-area and international students that local students find trouble securing the classes they need to transfer to a four-year school. In short, California public colleges are already not able to fulfill the Master Plan and serve all eligible California students — so why not make sure the UCs don’t get too greedy and admit more out-of-state students than they can handle?

Public education is a fundamental right, and the University of California should serve the students of its state. What’s more, California families and individuals pay taxes to fund the University of California, for education for California students. Accepting increased numbers of out-of-state students may be convenient and profitable, but exploiting out-of-state students at cost of California students is shameful.

If talented students are willing to pay higher tuition to attend universities, then more power to them. But if admitting out-of-state students to California public universities comes at the cost of not enrolling California students, then there is something wrong with our system of public education.

City on a Hill Press is in favor of SCA 22 and stands with Senator Rubio in his mission to keep the UC serving California residents. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, a union of UC employees, also supports SCA 22.

Only 3 percent of UCSC students are non-California residents currently. That number leaves some room for growth — but not too much.

Illustration by Leigh Douglas

State funding for education is shrinking — not just for public universities, but for the California school system as a whole. Tuition hikes toward higher education is one thing, but diminishing the quality of the state’s educational foundation for its youth through cuts to California K-12 funding is another.

As the June 5 local city elections approach, it is more important than ever for voters to renew the parcel tax that currently supplements dwindling state funds for Santa Cruz City Elementary and High School Districts.

The renewal of this parcel tax through a two-thirds vote for Measures I and J would not only bring in $2 million in supplemental funding towards maintaining the quality of education at Santa Cruz school districts, but also provide access to resources, supplies and instructors that schools would not be able to afford otherwise.

A parcel tax involves a special tax in which a parcel is defined as any unit of land in a given school district that receives separate real property tax bills from Santa Cruz County. All property that would be exempt from property taxes would also be exempt from the imposition of the parcel tax outlined in Measures I and J.

Measures I and J, which serve as District Protection of Quality Education acts for both Santa Cruz elementary and high school districts, were last renewed in 2006 by Santa Cruz voters. Renewal of the parcel tax has been voted on the ballot every eight years.

Measure I proposes a renewal of the parcel tax from $28 to $38 per parcel annually beginning July 1, 2013 for eight years. It is aimed at directing funds not only toward retaining highly qualified teachers and librarians in local schools, but preparing students for college and careers. Supplemental funding would also provide more opportunities for academic counseling for at-risk youth, in addition to ensuring the quality of classroom academics.

The parcel tax outlined in Measure I would combat state funding cuts which, according to the California State Senate, are projected to reach $8.3 billion for the 2012–13 budget. With California’s budget crisis making little progress toward recovery, further cuts toward educational funding can be expected to threaten both the quality of academics offered in public schools in addition to electives, libraries, counseling resources and teachers within Santa Cruz school districts.

Measure J, which proposes a renewal of the parcel tax from $70 to $85 per parcel annually beginning July 1, 2013 for eight years, will be allocated toward retaining high quality teachers in addition to art and music instruction — both subjects that have been quick to receive program cuts due to a lack of funding. Supplemental funding provided through the measure would also keep school libraries open longer and served by credentialed librarians.

As revenues collected through both measures would be prohibited from use towards administrators’ salaries and benefits, the tax would solely be aimed toward maintaining and protecting the quality of education in Santa Cruz County.

With increasing state funding cuts towards education, voter renewal of measures like I and J is vital to the quality of education offered at local schools. Investment in education starts with individual communities committed to positive change through voter action.

The parcel taxes outlined in Measures I and J are a small price to pay for the betterment of educational opportunities in Santa Cruz school districts. National politics may be moot on the June 5 ballot, but making sure you get to the polls and vote in support of these measures is necessary to preserve the quality of education in the city of Santa Cruz as a whole.

Data released by UCOP on April 17 reported that an unprecedented 160,939 students applied for the fall 2012 quarter UC-system wide, with 80,289 admitted. Out of those students admitted, 10,309 were from out of state.

UC Santa Cruz admissions adviser Robert Szemeredi said in a brief interview that UC admissions officers “don’t really care whether students are from California or not … we offer admission based on whether or not [students] meet and exceed UC requirements.”

UC Santa Cruz received 40,622 total applicants. Out of the 19,936 freshman undergraduates who were admitted, 1,082 were out-of state-students and 589 were international students. UCSC admitted 514 more non-California resident students than last year. Non-resident students currently pay $23,000 more than California residents in annual student tuition fees.

The website for the University of California budget shows that the 2011-2012 budget was the first time in UC history that student fees and tuition contributed more to “core operating funds” than did the California state general funds.

California state spending on education has decreased by $6 billion over the last year, according to a study conducted by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.

Campus provost Alison Galloway said in an on-campus budget forum Feb. 27 that the UC faces a potential $200 million budget reduction. This loss in state funding would create holes in the budget that would need to be accounted for.

Galloway said under “optimistic” conditions, the cuts in the overall UC budget could “trigger” up to a $4.5 million funding reduction for 2012-13.

While admission of out-of-state students has increased, numbers show that California residents aren’t necessarily being pushed out of the system. Admissions have been cut back on the whole due to a lack of resources. At UCSC, 18,265 California high school seniors were admitted for the fall 2012 quarter, up from 17,917 last year. However, admission offers to UCSC for all applicants have decreased from 68.1 percent in 2011 to 60.5 percent in 2012, indicating increased competition among UC admissions.

Szemeredi said non-resident students make up less than 2 percent of the student body, a fact that is “dissuasive” to potential applicants who feel that UC Santa Cruz is dominated by Californians.

“We’re really desiring diversity,” Szemeredi said.

Illustration by Patrick Yeung.

Teachers didn’t cause the financial crisis the United States is facing. Neither did sanitation workers, postal workers or construction workers.

No, the recession was a firmly upper-class disaster. Made possible by the irresponsible and selfish behavior of big banks, wealthy individuals and the government, the state of our economy has little to do with the actions of the middle class.

Yet in Wisconsin and around the country, the middle class is in danger of having to pay for it. Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisc.) announced plans last month to get rid of collective bargaining rights for unions, which led to an immediate uproar. Eliminating bargaining rights means that non-law enforcement union workers could easily lose pensions and benefits, and suffer salary cuts, at the hands of the state. The bill would increase taxation and take away representation for millions of union workers in Wisconsin.

But they aren’t letting this happen without a fight. For weeks, union members and allies have been protesting in Wisconsin, Washington and across the nation, rejecting the step backwards that this bill would represent. Before modern unions like the AFL and CIO (now the AFL-CIO) gained real power in the 1930s, public sector workers had few rights when it came to issues like health care and living wages. The situation in the Badger State threatens to erase all the progress that has been made.

Walker and his supporters claim that this decision is purely financial, and that crippling the unions is the only viable way to restore the state’s economic health. But is an economy really healthy when a state has the power to completely cut a teacher’s pension plan?

In the March 2 article “Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?” The New York Times interviewed Erin Parker, a teacher who lives in Madison and will soon move in with her parents in Colorado because she cannot afford to live in Wisconsin after salary cuts. It doesn’t matter how much money a state government saves when children don’t have enough qualified teachers like Parker.

Furthermore, one of the reasons unions exist is job security. If the state can lay off whomever they choose, then even more people join the ranks of the unemployed, meaning more will be paid in unemployment benefits, and it will be harder for anyone to get a job.

And if the move really were all about saving money, there are other ways to go about this. Walker has refused to even entertain the idea of compromising with labor leaders by implementing pay cuts for state workers, who already enjoy higher salaries than most union laborers. That’s not democracy at work — it’s a sign of the growing power of the American plutocracy.

Although Wisconsin is the biggest example of danger to unions, the problem isn’t confined to those state lines. There is currently legislation in Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Illinois that would reduce union rights.

Although conservatives often cite unions as a corrupting factor in Washington D.C., in reality it’s lobbyists who have much more power. The lifeblood of Washington, corporate lobbyists represent a precious, rich few, complicating legislation to the point of virtual illegibility. All that complication adds up to millions and billions of dollars for the powerful minority and only more headaches for the working class.

If we as students hope to have a fighting chance to make a difference for the better once we graduate, we should support the protestors in Wisconsin. If we want our younger siblings and children to receive a proper K–12 education, we should support the efforts in Wisconsin. If we reject the idea that those who pulverized the economy should be able to reflect the consequences onto the middle class, we should support the efforts in Wisconsin.

It isn’t only about unions. It’s about the triumph of democracy over plutocracy.

Illustration by Kristian Talley.

Illustration by Kristian Talley.

“You never know with Free Skool.”

Wes, a typical Santa Cruz granola, wearing loose-fitting slacks and a button-down shirt, leans back in his chair, speaking calmly and evenly. He sits at a rectangular brown table towards the back of Stevenson Café.

Wes rode his bike here, so there’s sweat dripping down his face, meeting his curly reddish-brown beard, which matches the hair on the top of his head. He has kind eyes, a wide smile and a friendly voice.

“Most classes there have been about 15 students, but today is the last class, so we’ll see who shows up,” he said.

When it’s time for the class to start, about eight people have shown up at the café. Wes welcomes them.

“This is ‘Games as a Strategy for Living,’” he says. “I’m Wes, and I am ostensibly the facilitator of the group.”

“Ostensibly” the facilitator. Wes’ wording perfectly reflects his own laid-back nature, and it also gives a glimpse into what Free Skool is all about.

Free Skool Santa Cruz was started in the spring of 2004 by a small group of self-identified anarchists looking for a different kind of education. They saw the traditional set-up of paying people to teach different skills or ideas as problematic.

So, they created a network in which anyone who wanted to teach something useful could do so, and anyone who wanted to learn was able to attend the classes — for free.

Free Skool has experienced a lack of continuity, but it is an idea that has thrived in Santa Cruz, and well beyond the city by the sea.

Francisco Ferrer of Spain, an anarchist, started the first free skool in the 1890s. Ferrer wanted an educational system that was not tied to the state or a religious institution, so he founded a “modern school” that pioneered experimental teaching.

“Governments have ever been known to hold a high hand over the education of the people,” Ferrer said. “They know, better than anyone else, that their power is based almost entirely on the school. Hence, they monopolize it more and more.”

As far as anyone can tell, Santa Cruz hosts the first Free Skool in modern times.

The idea of free education is important to the anarchist ideology. Anarchists embrace “do-it-yourself” culture and reject corporatization. Free Skool collective member Brandon Wade points out that Free Skool is free in the monetary sense and free in the sense of free thought and expression, as well as being free from hierarchy.

“Most Free Skools are based on the anarchist principles of self-reliance, autonomy and mutual support,” Wade said. “Unlike most structures in our society, there’s no manager or leader. Everyone’s equal within the project.”

Free Skool publicizes its classes by creating quarterly calendars and putting them in restaurants and other public spaces, as well as on its website. Anyone can apply to teach a course. Classes are held in such informal settings as teachers’ homes and cafés around town.

There are no books, no tests and no required attendance — just a passion for learning and instructing.

Since the genesis of Free Skool, Wade estimates that it has had thousands of classes, which means Santa Cruz residents of all ages and economic backgrounds have taken classes, varying from boat design and “Female Physiology for Everyone” to “Rooting Out Capitalism.”

Wade was enthusiastic about all the possibilities that come with such an open format.

“Our whole calendar is full of really unique classes,” he said, “because unlike the university, we’re not bound by a particular field or majors, so people teach classes because they’re passionate about the classes they’re teaching. So if somebody’s really, really excited about, say, conservation and waterways, there might be an Elkhorn Slough exploration class. If someone’s interested in auto repair, there might be a do-it-yourself automotive class.”

If there is any problem with Free Skool, it might be that it’s too informal for its own good. A different incarnation of it existed in Santa Cruz before, but petered out because of lack of dedication, organizers coming and going, and those involved changing every season.

Still, at a recent quarterly picnic at Ocean View Park, “Annie,” who has been involved as both an organizer and student since the beginning, defended the Skool’s nature. Annie declined to use her real name out of fear of negative backlash for her self-identification as an anarchist.

“We’re pretty open to different things,” she said. “Maybe it’s a little weird, but maybe there’s something good about that.”

Annie was one of the founders of the current incarnation of Free Skool Santa Cruz.

“There was another Free Skool in Santa Cruz, and I had gone to those classes,” she said. “It’s kind of like it comes out of DIY anarchist culture, this idea of sharing skills with people for free.”

Annie added that when Free Skool started out, it was solely about skill-sharing, then more academic and discussion-based classes were added because people wanted to teach them. She said that almost all class topics are accepted into the calendar, though there are a few exceptions.

“We don’t want any classes about business,” she said flatly. “We avoid career-focused classes, because we’re looking for life skills, not business skills.”

The putting together of the calendar is a discreet task, without a headquarters, because the group wants to avoid being targeted as known anarchists. Because classes don’t cost anything to attend, the Skool attempts to bridge the education and opportunity gap in society.

Annie shared the example of the dance movement process class she is taking this season.

“It’s completely free,” she said. “If [a traditional school] taught a class like that, it would probably cost $300.”

Wes was at the picnic as well, where he gave his reason for teaching his “Games as a Strategy for Living” class.

“I was listening to this lecture about how the joker or jester role is missing now in society,” he said. “If we viewed what we do more as a game, we’d have a different approach.”

Wes’ class is in itself a game: participants start out playing, then break to discuss what can be gleaned about real life from their games. It’s relaxed, without the usual hierarchy that traditional classes have.

Wes listens carefully to everyone’s input, and begins sentences with, “If it’s alright with everybody,” and “I hear what you’re saying, and I think…”

Wes also taught a class this winter titled “Soapbox 202,” which was an attempt to create an anarchist public speaking series. A UCSC alumnus, Wes explained why he embraced anarchism and Free Skool.

“To ignore the benefit and lost opportunity of people to organize is really a loss,” he said. “What is lost in turning our power over to institutions? What is lost when we can only choose certain classes?”

Wade also praised Free Skool’s unique tendencies.

“The thing I like most about Free Skool is that it connects people in this radical project that encourages them not just to learn in a new way but to connect to each other in a new way,” he said. “Free Skool blurs the line as much as we can between teacher and learner, so we learn as much as we can from each other.”

Wade gave examples of how the open nature of the program also makes it possible for students and teachers to have an effect on the larger community.

“In our community, with thousands of Free Skool teachers and students participating over six years, the deep connections and friendships that have been established are deeply powerful,” Wade said in an e-mail. “Several DIY projects have spun off from Free Skool classes: Red Root Herbal Collective offering herbal health alternatives, various parenting groups, a radical marching band, regular campus forest walks and even the DIY New Year’s Parade.”

Santa Cruz isn’t the only city with a successful Free Skool —though it was the first. Wade discussed the impact Free Skool Santa Cruz has had across the nation.

“What we are seeing is more people questioning conventional education, with free skools popping up, near and far,” he said in the e-mail. “People are working on free skool projects in Santa Barbara, East Bay, Portland, Indiana and a dozen other places. We want to do what we can to make sure these projects are successful and sustainable.”

The Davis People’s Free School, which was started in winter of 2007 by students living in the co-ops on campus, is mostly student-run and student-attended, though it is open to the entire community.

Organizer Brett Anne Balamuth has recently taken up the helm of operations, after a brief hiatus due to lack of organizers.

“The people involved didn’t realize what a big time commitment it was, or they just aren’t the organizing types,” Balamuth said. “So I’ve been organizing since this fall. And it’s interesting. Just about this week, it’s really starting to come together. We had this massage workshop and maybe 20 or 30 people showed up, which was totally unexpected. Everyone went away being really psyched that they’d come, and they’re signing up for the next one. It’s really great. I’m feeling really victorious in my efforts.”

Balamuth said that a major goal for Davis People’s Free School, which is “based mostly on the Santa Cruz model,” was to reach out to more people in the community.

“Specifically so that we can fall in line more with our mission statement, we want to be helping different demographics in Davis,” Balamuth said. “Mostly so far it’s been 20-somethings, and most of them are UC Davis students. We want to get all the age groups. We’re trying to get into some of the periodicals that get read by older people in Davis.”

Considering the trouble Balamuth has experienced getting the free skool started again, she explained why it’s a concept that’s worth working for.

Illustration by Kristian Talley.

“By bringing people together around something that’s free, we hope to ensure that everyone that’s coming wants to be there and is there for the right reasons,” she said. “I think it’s important that people want to be there, and aren’t just doing the least that they can to get their paycheck.”

Davis People’s Free School member Greg Zaller knows about working with a community to promote education.

He was volunteering in Sargoda, Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake that crippled the country. He remembered how bad conditions were, especially at the local schools.

“Schools were so bad there, it was unbelievable,” Zaller said. “Teachers didn’t even show up. And the students felt powerless.”

Zaller had always seen empowerment through education as key, and even handed out pens with the message “This pen is mightier than the sword” and his contact information on them. A person he gave one to in Pakistan started an e-mail conversation with him about education, and the idea for a free skool in Sargoda was born.

The schools were mostly attended and taught by women. The more educated women traveled from the cities to teach reading, writing, science, social studies and crafting to the women living in more remote villages. There was a very small fee for tuition, and teachers were paid nothing.

“I found that when you pay people, you’re pretty much doing things because you’re being paid,” Zaller said, “so I said I wouldn’t pay the teachers. The motivation was that they were being appreciated.”

Today, there are about 30 free skools in Pakistan, with around 4000 students.

Zaller is back in Davis now, teaching a free skool class called “Yoga for the Rest of Us.” His fellow collective members are working on getting grant money to expand free skools.

Balamuth talked about how collective members are working to get a grant so they can write a computer wiki program for Free Skool. This would help other cities start free skools more, and make calendars and e-mail lists more easily.

“Once we’re able to develop this, we would make it public to anyone, and hopefully this would allow free skools to pop up all over,” Balamuth said. “We’d also like to be able to start filming our classes and get them on the web and start a video library, so that people across the country can use them.”

Free Skool Santa Cruz also wants to expand its impact.

“We want to focus on outreach so people know about Free Skool and have the tools and resources they need,” Wade said.

Back at Stevenson Café, Wes’ “Games as a Strategy for Living” class is going well. A dialogue has opened among him and some students about when viewing life as a game with rules can be helpful, and when rules should be broken.

After listening to viewpoints from a young man who says games were his “life as a kid,” and from a woman who makes a living illustrating for games, Wes interjects some wisdom into the discussion.

“Sometimes not playing by the rules is just about strategy,” he said.

He’s talking about games and life, but it also applies to free skool. They aren’t following society’s typical rules, but they’ve got their own strategy.