What should the public do about the massive firings of teachers?

In the City of Chicago and across the nation, cities officials are claiming that they just don't have the money in the budget for the number of teachers on the payroll. The teachers in low income areas are disproportionately being fired. Schools are closing. It's as if the country has decided not to educate black and brown children on purpose! What should be the response by the public? How do we change what some believe to be inevitable: mass jailings of youth who fall through the cracks in our education system, drop out of school and turn to crime for survival? What mass action can stop this mess?