Diane Jong | Staff Photographer
Students protest outside of the Capitol building in Sacramento.
Students protest outside of the Capitol building in Sacramento.
Cuz the power of students (unions) don’t stop!” [sic]
-Chant No. 9 as written on the Unite for Public Education March 4 chant sheet.
The 2000 (plus or minus) protestors gathered at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles last Thursday proved two things: California’s public education apparatus is really complicated and involves a lot of people, and many of these people are angry with the status quo.
“Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho,
Budget Cuts Have Got to Go!
Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho,
Fee Hikes Have Got to Go!” the crowd chanted.
Of the 111 protests that took place across the nation on National Day of Action to Defend Public Education, this rally was among the largest and most diverse. Unlike the protests taking place at University of California and California State University campuses, this rally attracted unions, students and educators from high schools, community colleges, CSUs, UCs and adult schools. The odd LaRouche evangelist and all five members of the local International Students for Social Equality, a Socialist offshoot, also showed up.
Eighty members of the Los Angeles Police Department were present. One person, not a protestor, was arrested. According to police, the arrested man was a homeless bystander. Angered by LaRouche posters that depicted Obama with a Hitler mustache, the man had gotten into scuffle with LaRouche supporters. When police attempted to stop the altercation, the man hit a police officer and was arrested to chants of “Let him go.”