In October, 1994 teacher activists from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. met in Mexico and created the Trinational Coalition for the Defense of Public Education, to coordinate their opposition to the privatization of public education in all three countries. In April of 2008 the Eighth Conference of the Trinational Coalition took place at the headquarters of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. We are U.S. activists who hosted that gathering, and who are committed to developing a U.S. section of the Trinational (Trinational-us) that will:

• Defend public education as our society's most effective means to build a democratic society.

• Ally educators from K-12 and higher education with students and parents, in this effort.

• Expose educational inequality based on color, class and ethnicity.

• Share information and organizing efforts about the struggle to defend public education from odious testing requirements, chronic underfunding, charter schools and other efforts such as Union busting and limiting parent and student rights which encourage and facilitate the takeover of Public education by corporate and other private interests.