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<P>latimes.com/news/la-me-protests4-2010mar04,0,7952690.story</P>
<H1>latimes.com</H1>
<H2>Rallies to focus on cutbacks in education</H2>
<H3>Protests by students, parents and faculty members are planned at state
campuses and in Sacramento.</H3>
<P>By Carla Rivera</P>
<P>March 4, 2010</P>
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<P>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.<BR><BR>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.<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>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.<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Many of the demonstrations are being planned by
campus faculty unions, but the actions, along with earlier advocacy efforts by
students and faculty, have also drawn at least qualified support from some top
administrators.<BR><BR>In a statement, Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed said
the university "supports the efforts of our students, faculty and staff to bring
awareness about the importance of higher education in California. It is critical
that legislators in Sacramento hear from businesses and the community about the
importance of CSU."<BR><BR>The California effort -- aided by the use of social
media such as Facebook -- has also spread eastward. Schools and colleges in New
York, Texas, Rhode Island, Michigan, Louisiana and other states are expecting
similar demonstrations on their campuses.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>One of the newest aspects of
this wave of campus protests sparked by budget cuts is the alliance of students,
faculty, staff and alumni on issues that directly affect so many: college costs,
career options, and job and financial security.<BR><BR>Also unusual is the
expected participation in the protests of kindergarten-to-12th-grade educators,
who are experiencing similar budget problems that have forced layoffs, led to
larger classes and resulted in cancellations of art, music, physical education
and other programs.<BR><BR>More than 100 K-12 schools and districts have planned
demonstrations and community events, raising expectations that Thursday's
protest may be one of the most widespread ever in California and increasing the
chances of catching legislators' attention, organizers say.<BR><BR>"The goal is
to try to increase public awareness about the crisis in public education," said
Teri Yamada, a professor of Asian studies at Cal State Long Beach and president
of the campus' California Faculty Assn. chapter.<BR><BR>"We haven't seen much
movement at the state level or in the Legislature to try to improve the
problem," she said. "The public needs to become more aware of exactly how
devastating these cuts are going to be and have been. If they keep cutting, they
are going to destroy the education system and wreck the economic viability of
the state."<BR><BR>The activities planned by teachers and staff at many Southern
California secondary schools focus on parents' engagement. Campuses in the K-8
Ontario-Montclair School District, for example, are expected to hold tailgate
breakfasts and pass out information about the budget cuts to parents.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>Some educators involved in
planning the protests say they see a measure of hope. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, in his State of the State address, proposed shifting some money
from prisons to education and mandating that no less than 10% of state general
funds be used for universities by 2014. But some students say they still feel
neglected.<BR><BR>"The biggest thing you're seeing with these actions is the
buildup of frustration," said Christopher Chavez, 22, a political science major
at Cal State Long Beach and student government president. "Students feel like
the state doesn't care about them anymore, that we're just a set of numbers on
paper and we don't count."<BR><BR>Some university faculty say they are feeling
that way too, as funding cuts permeate departments and affect programs,
workloads and research.<BR><BR>"No doubt many Californians feel we live in an
ivory tower, but we're more than willing to climb down and join a just cause,"
said Richard Walker, a UC Berkeley geography professor and member of the faculty
group SAVE the University. "We're defending a public education principle, but
the practicality is that if California's schools and colleges aren't producing
good students, we suffer."<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR><BR>More than 750 students and
faculty from UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and the University of San Francisco have
signed up to board about 14 buses to the Sacramento rally, Walker said. "We have
more than 120 faculty going. We consider ourselves like Harvard or Yale and to
get 120 faculty off their duff to go to Sacramento is unprecedented."<BR><BR><A
href="mailto:carla.rivera@latimes.com">carla.rivera@latimes.com</A></P></DIV></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>