Day of education protests gets under way

[tonysam]

Hundreds of students rallied at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz this morning, protesting the lack of funding for California's beleaguered public education system as part of a statewide demonstration.

The daylong protest, dubbed the March 4th Day of Action in Defense of Public Education, was aimed at sending a message to Sacramento: Students are suffering because of budget cuts. Similar rallies and protests were planned in other states that have also experienced funding cuts.

There were already signs of strife this morning.

At San Francisco State University, hundreds of protesters formed a picket line at the main entrance to campus at 19th and Holloway avenues, urging students not to go to class.

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[dynasaw]

1. Ditto in Southern California

"Thousands of students, teachers and parents in California and across the country are expected to stage rallies, demonstrations, walkouts and other actions Thursday to decry what they say is an assault on public education at all levels.

The so-called Day of Action is in response to education funding cuts that have affected schools nationwide, but have been especially severe in California, where public colleges and universities have canceled classes, ordered furloughs and layoffs and enacted unprecedented student fee increases.

Faculty, students and alumni are expected to descend on the state Capitol in Sacramento for a rally and teach-in that will include personal testimonials on the effects of the cutbacks and fee increases. In downtown Los Angeles, participants plan to rally in Pershing Square and march to the governor's office in the Ronald Reagan State Building.

In addition, events are scheduled at most of the 10 campuses of the University of California, California State University's 23 campuses and many of the state's 112 community colleges. Many students are expected to walk out of class to protest the cutbacks."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-protests4-2010mar04,0,4387493.story

Bad news too for California:

"California was not selected as one of the finalists for a $4.35-billion competitive school-reform grant program, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Officials in the state were notified early Thursday morning."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/do-not-post-until-okd-by-jason-songbeth-shuster.html

[Adsos Letter]

2. Sonoma State University also

Students walk out of classes.

EDITED TO ADD: this is based on personal observations.

[soleiri]

3. I'm at a rally right now

At Cal State.

Went to one earlier this morning in Pasadena.

[alp227]

4. The SJSU rally just finished

Great stuff and excellent speeches. The local California government offices are just a few blocks from campus, so we taped signs on State Sen. Abel Maldonado's office windows. Also, at the centre of campus there was this "musical chairs" skit that mocked the way California politicians were cutting and tossing everything, and that was followed by speeches by professors, a K-12 teacher, and a student activist