Thousands Continue to Fight Budget Cuts
Photo by Julie Eng.
Photo by Julie Eng.
Photo by Julie Eng.
A diverse coalition of people walked the final mile of a 365-mile march in protest of state budget cuts to education on Wednesday, April 21.
Protesters filled three city blocks on their way to the Capitol.
Rain beat down on the group as they gathered in a Sacramento park before it became a drizzle.
The 48-day march, dubbed The March for California’s Future, began with five “core” walkers. A San Diego community college professor, a Los Angeles probation officer, a Watsonville teacher, a Marina del Ray substitute teacher, and a retired Los Angeles teacher began to walk in Bakersfield, with the ultimate goal of rallying on the steps of the Capitol.
“I am marching because I believe the only hope for education is for us to get out in the streets and educate people about how we fund public education in California,” said Jenn Laskin. She has taught for 11 years at Renaissance Continuation High School in Watsonville, and was among the group of core walkers.
The group was joined along the way by teachers, students, union members, public service employees, and parents and grandparents of students, among many others. They came out, most for hours and some for days, to show support for the walkers and solidarity with the movement.
The crowd held almost as many umbrellas as picket signs in the air, relics of their willingness to face the weather.
Felix Cabrera, a second-year at the City College of San Francisco, joined the march to express his own frustration over his inability to take the classes he needs to graduate.
“The current budget crisis and the cuts to education are forcing me to take more courses per semester, but take longer to graduate,” Cabrera said. “Not only that, but because of the cuts to the UC system I might not get into the schools I want. They’re just preventing my future from really happening.”
More than a thousand protestors filled the Capitol lawn as students from San Francisco State University opened the rally with a skit starring “The Draculator,” a vampiric