São Paulo's students movements appears to score a major victory, as the government backs down on its “reorganization” plan for schools. Photo: Agência Brasil CC 3.0. After two months of protesting in the streets and occupying almost 200 schools throughout the state of São Paulo, Governor Geraldo Alckmin announced today he is postponing the state's reorganization plan until at least 2017. In what protesters are also hailing as a victory, Education Secretary Herman Voorwald (known in social media as Herman “Voldemort”) has resigned from office. Under the state's “reorganization plan,” 43 percent of the schools in Sao Paulo would have been required to offer only one of the three levels of education in the Brazilian system, instead of offering primary through secondary education all under the same roof. The new policy would have necessitated the closure of 93 different schools across the state, and more than 300,000 students were expected to need to transfer to new schools. Students who opposed the program claimed the changes were simply a disguised cut to education spending. The plan's opponents also faulted state officials for failing to hold wider and more public consultations with the education system's stakeholders, given the radical changes the “reorganization” would have required. São Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin announced on a press conference this afteroon the suspension of his reorganization policy At a press conference today, December 4, Governor Alckmin said he “got the message from students and their families in relation to the plan,” adding: “Nossa decisão é adiar a reorganização e rediscuti-la escola por escola, com a comunidade, com os estudantes e, em especial, com os pais dos alunos”. Our decision is to postpone the reorganization and re-discuss it on a school-by-school basis, as well as with the community, the students, and, especially, with the parents. Alckmin assures students will have guaranteed enrollment at their current schools for the 2016 school year (which in Brazil runs from March through December). Education Secretary Voorwald's resignation comes after a government review board concluded that he “failed to establish bridges of dialogue with the movement to demobilize the occupations.” What else might have prompted the Governor's Office to capitulate to demonstrators? Early on December 4, the research institute Datafolha released the results of a poll showing Alckmin's popularity at a record low. In the survey, 30 percent of the Governor's constituents rated his government as “bad or very bad,” with just 28 percent saying it is “good or very good.” Last year, following Alckmin's reelection, those figures were 48 percent and 13 percent, respectively. The Facebook page “Don't Close my School,” which has been the student movement's main public channel of communication, posted a statement claiming victory, though the group says it intends to continue its occupation of schools until the authorities agree to several immediate concessions: (1) the government's official newspaper of record must publish the Governor's order to suspend the “reorganization” plan; (2) all the student protesters currently in police custody must be released; and (3) there must be amnesty for any protesters charged with crimes committed as part of the occupation movement. É preciso comemorar! Pela segunda vez na história recente do Estado de SP, a juventude dobra a espinha de um governador truculento. Só nós sabemos o quanto lutamos para finalmente desmoralizar Alckmin, convencer toda a sociedade e derrotar a reorganização. Em 2016, vamos seguir lutando para assegurar mais direitos e derrotar de vez o projeto de reorganização. A coragem e a força que demonstrou o movimento secundarista é irreversível. Ressignificamos o espaço das escolas públicas, que passaram a ter vida política, cultural e em consonância com os sonhos e necessidades de estudantes e das comunidades locais. Nunca a escola pública foi tão ocupada e bem aproveitada como sob o controle dos estudantes. It is time to celebrate! For the second time in the recent history of the state of São Paulo, the youth bends a stubborn governor. Only we know how much we've fought to demoralize Alckmin finally and to persuade everyone to defeat the reorganization. In 2016, we will keep on fighting to guarantee more rights and to defeat once and for all the project of reorganization. The courage and the strength that the students’ movement has shown is irreversible. We re-signified public schools, which now have a political and cultural life in consonance with the dreams and needs of the students and local communities.