AN URBAN UNIVERSITY ACT

WHEREAS, the deterioration of American cities has inflicted great suffering on large numbers of American citizens and threatens even greater catastrophe; and

WHEREAS, the future of our cities depends largely on the improved education and employment of their citizens; and

WHEREAS, the poverty and blight of our cities have been caused by national economic forces and federal policies on which the cities have exerted little or no influence; and

WHEREAS, the revival of the cities surpasses the capacities of local and state governments and requires a full-scale national commitment by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has a commitment to the national promise of social justice and a particular commitment to public postsecondary education dating to the Morrill Land Grant Act designed in 1862 to meet the needs of a rural nation:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers call upon the federal government to enact an Urban University Act to finance public postsecondary education, to expand access to public postsecondary education, to create an employed and viable labor force, and to otherwise serve the economic, cultural and educational interests of the cities of the United States. (Executive Council)