Privatization of education has increased over the past l0 years throughout the Americas, leading to deterioration in the quality of education in public schools, reduced access for lower-income citizens, and the use of public funds to subsidize private education. The mantra of governments has been more privatization, more commercialization and less public funding of education. All American countries have seen cuts in funding for public education and escalating tuition fees for post-secondary institutions. Public education is critical to the social and economic development of nations, and it is vital for the construction of democratic societies.

We have also seen the suppression of labour and union rights for education workers, particularly in Mexico and British Columbia. The B.C. government was recently condemned by the International Labour Organization for its legislation that allows employers to tear up freely negotiated collective agreements. In Latin American countries, government officials often refer to educators as "dangerous people." In Mexico, the government has passed legislation that effectively allows it to control trade unions and to create phantom unions in which workers are unaware of the existence of their union representation. In Colombia, 433 teachers have been murdered or have "disappeared" since 1987 and more than 1,000 have fled their homes under threat of death for participating in trade union activity.

These issues were discussed at last month's sixth Tri-National Conference in Defence of Public Education, hosted by CAUT and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. Every two years the Tri-National Coalition brings together representatives of public school (K-12) and post-secondary education workers, both academic and staff, who are concerned about the deterioration of the quality of education in public schools. Originally founded by public sector educational organizations from the United States, Canada and Mexico, the coalition now includes representatives from the Caribbean, as well as South and Central America. The common bond is a struggle to defend public education as a social right - a struggle that transcends national borders.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) led to the founding of the coalition in order to respond to NAFTA's impact on public education. The impending revisions to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) will have even more of an impact on public education should GATS be expanded. GATS is a multilateral agreement that defines restrictions on a broad range of government measures that in any way may potentially affect trade in services. These restrictions are legally enforceable and can be backed up through trade sanctions imposed by the World Trade Organization.

The GATS commits its members to encouraging trade liberalization in the form of increased privatization, contracting out of public services and deregulation. While most governments maintain that public education services generally, including higher education, are not subject to GATS and are exempt from it, it is very likely that public education could not meet the criteria needed to gain exemption. GATS will apply to "private" or "commercial" education. Under GATS, the distinction between public and private education services will be difficult to make.

The United States, New Zealand, Australia and Japan have proposed further liberalization of trade in education services as part of GATS discussions. These proposals reflect national corporate interests that see education as a growth centre generating future profits in a knowledge-based economy. These proposals would lead to the removal of restrictions on educational institutions operating in other countries, including the removal of "obstacles" such as preferential tax treatment for domestic institutions, bans on the presence of foreign institutions, restrictions on online learning material from foreign providers, and requirements for foreign academics entering and leaving countries. The inclusion of commercial education in GATS poses a serious threat to public education.

What can be done? Delegates at the tri-national conference endorsed an alternative international framework for higher education presented by CAUT. This new international instrument would:

• Recognize that education is a public good and a human right;
  
• Respect cultural and linguistic diversity;
  
• Promote equality within and between countries; provide full equality for equality-seeking groups; and, respect the rights of Aboriginal people;
  
• Establish global institutions that are open and transparent, that recognize the priority of human, labour and environmental rights over commercial rights; and
  oPreserve the ability of national governments to regulate education in the public interest; to maintain and expand publicly-provided education independent of market pressures and free trade disciplines.
  

The conference ended with commitments to work throughout the Americas to support and to defend public education and to maintain public education as a right of all citizens. Our challenge, now, is to transform the alternative international framework into a reality.