A statewide campaign to Start the Day for Students and bring attention to the state's education funding crisis is generating interest locally with events planned for Thursday at many local schools.
With a big push coming from the California Teachers Association, schools will be rallying sites for teachers, parents, students and administrators to speak out about how painful effects budget cuts are having on students, schools and communities. Most schools in the area already have made plans to -- at the very least -- gather a one-half hour before school starts to hand out information about local cuts and how to contact lawmakers.

In the Travis Unified School District, elementary schools intend to participate in a Hands Around the School event in which a human chain, or fence of educators, parents and students, will be formed in front of the schools or on playgrounds as a symbol that more cuts will not be tolerated. These events will take place in the morning and be accompanied by leafleting.

Contact your individual school site for specific Start the Day for Students activities, or log on towww.standupforschools.org.

The Solano County Office of Education has also jumped on board, publishing a brochure for the schools to hand out which outlines, district by district, the effect that budget cuts have had on schools.

For example, Solano County schools, which serve more than 67,000 students, have suffered an
average reduction of 25 percent to their budgets from 2009 through 2011. According to the county office of education, that equates to $96.4 million in reductions to education funding.
These cuts during the last several years have resulted in massive layoffs, larger class sizes, elimination of