Austin Learning Cooperative.

There are a variety of free schools in America with greater and lesser institutionalization. The Albany Free School has existed for decades. There are several Krishnamurti schools, hundreds of alternative education organizations, etc. The Santa Cruz Free Skool has existed for two years and demonstrates the vitality of the concept.

A free school is essentially a decentralized learning community based around ideals of communitarian self-sufficiency and an open, unaccredited learning process. It orients learning away from hierarchy, the institutional confines of a classroom, etc.

Austin doesn't currently have one. Given the penchant Austinites show for learning and self-motivated skill development, it would provide a good ground for such an organization.

We have to begin by asking how "informal" such an organization should be, and this allows us to decide how best to structure it.

Generally, free schools are very informal, based upon a maximization of free effort, with no money or pay exchanging hands.

However, they also tend to be confined to a certain lifestyle that might be called countercultural or alternative. There's nothing wrong with this, but it might be more interesting to put a bit more design into the process for Austin and come up with something a little firmer, a little more established.

I'm thinking the best model would be neither an open anarchistic skill-share nor a school by another name, but a simple civic organization, a club or service organization. That means some regularization of methods and process, but a very open principle for content.

Some initial thoughts:
*Have several anchoring institutions. For instance, Monkeywrench Books and the Rhizome Collective make good starters. Yellow Bike Collective. We should also add in whatever nonprofits or civic groups that show some interest in the organization. This implies one type of leadership body, namely a council of delegates from sponsoring organizations who offer both light institutional support (namely offer regular classes and shared communication to the community) and light responsibility (to make sure the thing lasts); and who receive the benefits of shared resources and advertising.
*What would course facilitators receive? In general, some sort of membership, a feeling of identity in the organization. Points for a resume. Whatever pay arrangements they develop with students. Free labor for projects that are turned into courses.
*Perhaps this could be integrated with the Austin Time Exchange.
*Some focus areas- craft and construction skills; gardening, farming, landscaping; liberal arts and sciences; book clubs and discussion groups; cooperative and business education and support; automotive and bike repair and maintenance; art; child-rearing; language, spanish, ESL, foreign languages; civic groups.
*Models: study circles and folk schools; free schools; Time Banks; Aristotle's Peripatetic; cooking; machining; labor organizing; local politics, policies, and economic issues; computers, programming; nature and ecology; pet care; etc.
*Maybe eventually some city sponsorship? Establish ties to CreateAustin early on, but don't ask for anything until it demonstrates some success, after a year or two.
*Name, Greater Austin Learning Coop? It'd be best to use the term "coop" or "cooperative" in the name, if only to spread the meme. It would be best to avoid using the word "free" in the title, just because you want people to assume the possibility of payment. It's "free" in the sense of Linux. But you want people to be able to barter a bit, though it'd be nice to encourage it as a gift economy. So the Time Exchange would be a great way to do this practically- facilitate a course, get an hour.
*connect with libraries. LIBRARIES LIBRARIES LIBRARIES.
*focus not just on the countercultural angle, and not just on the cheapness. You want to focus on the benefit to "producers", and the idea of forming community around shared skills and knowledge, sharing strength. Hence a focus on the basic model of a club.
*associate with GB? the leftwing of GB? fun fun.
*How much of daily life can be rendered autonomous from capital and the State? How much time can be taken back, how much knowledge can be released, how much capital rebuilt?