Students flood Capitol
Students, faculty, staff express budget frustration by marching on Sacramento
Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
 "Photo: Mark Rojas")
Mark Rojas
Sarait Escorza [center] stands among several other Chico State students Thursday while protesting against budgets cuts. The peaceful protest at the State Capitol marked the beginning of several rallies across the state.
 "Photo: Mark Rojas")
Mark Rojas
Chico State seniors Alejandra Garcia [left] and Brenda Rodriguez [right]march and chant at Thursday’s rally at the State Capitol.
Several Chico State students and faculty members attended a peaceful rally at the State Capitol on Thursday, hoping to encourage state legislature to make stronger efforts toward better funding for public education.
It marked the first day in a series of planned rallies and walkouts throughout the state, including the Chico State Action Rally, which will take place today.
The rally is an important statement for higher education, said President Paul Zingg.
“Higher education is an investment in hope and opportunity for the future,” he said.
The event will have an impact far into the future, said Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association.
“Today we make history,” she said. “This is the largest statewide action in the history of California.”
Taiz was one of many speakers who vocalized her support for possible solutions to better educational funding during the protest rally organized by the CFA.
Students from schools throughout California gathered on front of the steps of the Capitol building and raised their voices in unison. Chants such as “roll back those student fees ’cause nurses and teachers don’t grow on trees,” echoed from the crowd of an estimated 2,000 demonstrators.
Thousands expressed frustration by gathering on the streets, at college campuses and the State Capitol to protest budget cuts, rising tuition fees and furloughs, said Sarait Escorza, a Chico State student and member of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.
“I was surprised by the number of students at the rally,” she said.
Students, faculty and professors went to great lengths to protect education, Escorza said.
“We need to reprioritize the way we see the future,” said Paul Friedlander, a Chico State professor in the music department. “To re-dream the California dream of the best public education in the world.”
California State University student fees have increased 182 percent since 2002, while mandatory furloughs and larger class sizes have become the norm, according to a press release from the CFA.
Dennis Rothermel, a Chico State professor of philosophy and member of the CFA, attended the rally because he thinks the problems affect more than the CSU system.
There is a unity from pre-schools to universities because they are suffering equally, he said.
California is now ranked 47th in public spending per pupil and the state continues to slash higher education budgets, according to the CFA.
Possible solutions presented ranged from proposed Assembly Bill 656, to the closing of major corporation tax loopholes.
State Assemblyman Alberto Torrico spoke at the rally about AB 656, his bill calling for the taxation of extracted natural gas and oil in California at a rate of 12.5 percent