Taking a stand

“They say cut back, we say fight back,” chanted protesters at the northern steps of the California State Capitol on March 4.

The March 4 rally at the Capitol was one of many protests in support of education scheduled for this month, not just in California, but all over the nation.

Thousands converged outside the Capitol around 11 a.m. to stand up against drastic cuts to the state’s education system.

California’s community colleges, including American River College, are planning their own rally at the Capitol on March 22 to address the same kind of funding issues that are hurting community colleges.

ARC students interested in participating need to sign up if they want to take advantage of free bus transportation from the campus to Raley Field. The march from Raley Field to the State Capitol will start at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

The Associated Student Body and the Student Senate of California Community Colleges hope to see at least 10,000 student participants from all over the state.

At the March 4 rally, students, faculty and administrators alike from California’s community colleges and the UC and CSU campuses voiced their anger and concern with chants and signs with cleverly-worded slogans to demonstrate the impact budget cuts are having on public education.

“I’m paying more than I should for a watered-down education that’s not going to help me in the future,” said protester Melody Aflomongo, a criminal justice major from Sacramento State University.

A major obstacle facing California along with many other states is depleting tax revenue causing the state budget to come up short. In an attempt to balance things out, states continue to slash funding to K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities. Because of this, many colleges have cut classes, raised fees, and furloughed professors. Experts say the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.

“The tuition hike, just within the last two years, has caused me to have to get new student loans and create more debt,” said Drew Thompson, an accounting major at CSU Sacramento. “It’s been tough. It’s affected my family. My dad is a state teacher, so he’s been furloughed as well.”

“The Cal State faculty are doing furloughs twice a month, so we’ve all taken pay cuts,” said Tom Nordenholz, who teaches at Maritime Academy. Then he added, “Actually, I’m even more worried about the future implications.”

Protester Nathan Menard, a sociology major attending UC Berkeley, feels that cutting any funds from public education is absurd.

“Education is necessary,” Menard said. “It reduces the prison population, raises the productive population in our society, as well as addresses issues of inequality, poverty… pretty much anything you can think of that’s going wrong in the state.”

Speakers at the event fueled the crowd’s energy by discussing topics like taxing tobacco and oil companies to fund higher education, and replacing the two-thirds requirement with a simple majority vote in the Legislature to pass a state budget.

All seemed to agree that public education must have a higher priority than tax cuts.

"We stand here with one clear united voice today,” Gail Mendes, secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Association, told the crowd. “(The legislators) don't have the courage to come out and look you in the eye."

Many elected officials showed support for the protesters. A spokesperson for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the governor wants a constitutional amendment that promises more funding towards higher education than funding towards the state's prison system.

For many educational supporters, however, words from Schwarzenegger mean nothing.

“I’m getting whiplash listening to this governor. His policy approach to funding is non-sensible,” said Ed Barakatt, who teaches in the physical therapy department at Sacramento State.

When asked what he’d say to the governor if he had the opportunity, a student named Dre Linemen from Sacramento State University said, “You’re time’s up, let someone else fix the problem.”

Local law enforcement made their presence known, but there were no acts of violence reported at the Capitol protests. However, at UC Davis on the same day, police clashed with protesters. One female student was arrested, but there were no reported injuries.

Meanwhile in Oakland, over 150 protesters were arrested for blocking Interstate 880, backing up rush hour traffic for miles. One protester was hospitalized after falling from the freeway to the street below. It was reported by police officials that he was expected to live.