Thousands of teachers, parents, students and others participated in rallies and marches across the Southland March 4 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.

“It’s a bad sign. I mean, I can see people getting laid off from work, but not education-wise. That’s ... the future of America,” said John Contreras, who has seven grandchildren.

Protesters began gathering in downtown Los Angeles after school for a march from Pershing Square to the Ronald Reagan State Building. The rallies were aimed at stopping Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state 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 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 earlier in the morning, with some carrying signs that said “Arnold, terminate our fees.”

“I’ve had to take out over $200,000 in loans from UC Berkeley undergrad and UCLA law here,” student Alejandra Cruz said. “And you know, it’s a big scheme, right? We pay all this money into banks and because we’re getting the loans the university feels that they can keep on increasing fees.”
UCLA students were being encouraged to walk out of classes to take part in the rally.

“All these decisions have been made sort of, I think, without the participation of the student body and without participation of those who are most affected by it,” graduate student Eli Diner said.

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 2009-10 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.”

On March 2, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education authorized sending layoff notices to nearly 5,200 employees, including teachers, administrators, counselors and nurses. The move is aimed at cutting into the district’s anticipated $640 million budget deficit for the coming school year.

Other districts have also issued layoff notices. Under state law, districts must inform teachers by March 15 if there is a possibility of a layoff. Many of the possible layoffs never materialize.