Thousands Protest Education Budget Cuts

Los Angeles - Thousands of teachers, parents, students and others participated in rallies and marches across the Southland today as part of a state and national "Day of Action" to protest cuts in education funding.

Outside Farmdale Elementary School in the El Sereno area, members of United Teachers Los Angeles handed out leaflets to parents urging them to get involved in the fight against budget cuts.

Protesters began gathering in downtown Los Angeles this afternoon for a march from Pershing Square to the Ronald Reagan State Building. The rallies across the state are aimed at stopping Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature from cutting billions from a public school system already reeling from $17 billion in cuts over the past two years.

"These are the largest cuts our students have seen since the Great Depression and they will hurt a generation of students, robbing them of the future they deserve," said David A. Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association.

"Now the governor is proposing $2.5 billion in additional cuts -- and wants to renege on an agreement signed into law last summer to repay schools more than $11 billion they are owed," Sanchez said.

"It's time to stop the cuts, have everybody start paying their fair share and start changing the conversation about additional revenues for our public schools and California's future."

Mike Naples, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said education remains a top issue for the governor.

"In the face of a $20 billion deficit, the governor is prioritizing education," Naples said in a statement. "His budget proposal fully funds K-14 education at the same levels as last year and his proposal also increases funding for higher education."

A midday rally was held at UCLA, where some students and faculty members began picketing this morning, with some carrying signs that said "Arnold, terminate our fees."

UCLA students were being encouraged to walk out of classes to take part in the rally.

About 200 students, some playing drums and chanting, sat in a hallway of Murphy Hall at UCLA, delivering a list of "demands" to Chancellor Gene Block. Among their demands were lower fees, revised admission standards and no employee layoffs or furloughs.

The students remained inside Murphy Hall until about mid-afternoon, when many began to trickle back outside.

UCLA officials "are conducting a comprehensive review of academic programs and campus operations to make them more consistent with the new funding realities," said Phil Hampton, the assistant director of UCLA's Office of Media Relations.

"While the huge loss of of state funding presents unavoidable consequences, campus leaders say their decisions are guided by the overarching goals of preserving academic quality as well as student opportunity and diversity."

An "unprecedented reduction in state support" for the University of California system left UCLA with a $131 million deficit for the 2009-2010 budget year, prompting student fee increases, furloughs and layoffs, Hampton said.

After 5 p.m., a separate rally of union members and students in Bruin Plaza moved to Murphy Hall and was blocked from entering by University of California police officers to allow for the safe and orderly exit of employees, police said.

The building closed at 6 p.m. Police declared an unlawful assembly at 6:30 p.m. and the remaining 40 or so students inside left without incident, according to Hampton.

University of California President Mark G. Yudof said he supports "everybody and anybody who wants to stand up for public education."

"I salute those who are making themselves heard today in a peaceful manner on behalf of a great cause," Yudof said.

"... Public education drives a society's ability to progress and to prosper," he said. "This state's great public universities hold the key to our economic and social growth and are deserving of support by all Californians."

Seven people, including a professor, were arrested at a demonstration at Cal State Northridge, when a group of about 25 protesters went out and sat in the middle of Reseda Boulevard, near Prairie Street, said Vance Peterson, the university's vice president for university advancement.

"The event looked orderly," Peterson told City News Service "There were signs and some chanting, and it appeared to wind down just fine."

The group broke off from the larger crowd and sat in the street, prompting police to block traffic in both directions on Reseda Boulevard, Peterson said.

"The officers waited about an hour," Peterson said. "I think they showed incredible patience."

The arrests in the confrontation were made just before 7 p.m. The rest of the crowd then started breaking up, Peterson said.

Officer Rosario Herrera of the Los Angeles Police Department said officers had been on the scene since noon, but things changed when "protesters derailed from their path."

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education authorized sending