Controversial education bill continues to spark outcry in Mexico

World Today

Controversial education bill continues to spark outcry in Mexico

At the heart of the clashes between teachers and police in the state of Oaxaca is President Enrique Pena Nieto’s controversial education reform bill.

CCTV America’s Martin Markovits looks to why it has sparked such violence.

The bloody clashes between teachers and the police in Oaxaca maybe over now but the controversy over education reform remains as members of the teachers unions continue to block major highways across the state.

The National Coordinator of Education Workers, (CNTE), is mad because the 2013 reform championed by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto weakens the unions’ power especially in hiring and firing teachers.

Government supporters said this is necessary for a system that has suffered wasteful spending and widespread corruption within the union.

But union members believe these reforms are a ploy to destroy a union well known for its social activism.

It was the imprisonment of two of its leaders on corruption charges that sparked violent protest last month between the police and the union that left at least nine people killed.

Since then, many schools have been closed and roadblocks have been set up in attempt to cripple the economy.

The Mexican air force has begun airlifting tons of grain into the state as the food supply dwindles.

Still, the Mexican government refuses to negotiate with the union. Another reminder that is crisis will not be resolved anytime soon.