"Schools are a disaster zone," declares the young narrator at the beginning of this documentary about public education in New York City during the Mayor Giuliani era (1994-2001). LESSONS FROM CLASS STRUGGLE explores the issues of racism in public education and tracks and assesses the process of students and others organizing to fight for change in the NYC educational system—the largest school district in the United States.

As it follows a two-year struggle to stop budget cuts to education in NYC, LESSONS FROM CLASS STRUGGLE addresses the wide disparity in the city’s public schools and the racist nature of the inequality. Parents, teachers, students and educators speak about the reality of a system they know first hand; overcrowded classrooms, lack of books and materials, decaying building, conditions common in schools where the population is mostly Back and Latin, but not seen in white suburban schools. Scene of classes at Wingate high school in Flatbush, Brooklyn, show the truth of their observation; a science lab with broken equipment, and a population under siege by police and school safety guards.

The film documents protestors efforts to influence the United Federation of Teachers labor union and to organize teachers citywide to fight against “The Bell Curve”, the ideological basis for cutting the school budget.