Schools

Rally to Protest School Cuts

The protest is planned for 5 p.m. Tuesday at TVHS.

UPDATE: This event was canceled due to rain. For more information, .

A rally was planned to protest cuts made to the California schools.

The hour-long protest, called the “Pep Rally for Schools,” is set for 5 p.m. on Tuesday at ’s football field.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Students, parents and teachers from Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore and Menifee organized the event,  said Barbara Burkett, spokesperson for the Temecula Valley Council of Parent Teacher Associations. The event is open to the public.

The protest aims to raise awareness to the $4 billion slated to be cut from California school budgets this year, she said.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Unless California’s citizens, especially taxpayers, rise up and tell the legislature, ‘Enough is enough, no more cuts,’ we are looking at an additional $4 billion in cuts this year,” said incoming Temecula Valley Educators Association President Chris Lindberg in an emailed statement.

Temecula class sizes are growing, the school year’s been shortened, programs were cut and classes were cut from colleges, he said. “These drastic cuts are hurting our public schools, colleges and communities.”

How badly the schools are funded is hard to excuse considering the relative size of California’s economy, he said. “California has the eighth-largest economy in the world, but it ranks 43rd in per-pupil spending, and it continues to shortchange our students of the education they need and deserve.”

The event includes student performances, a marching band and cheerleaders, said Kathy Fink, incoming president of the parent-teachers association.

“We want this event to be upbeat, family friendly and a celebration of all that public education should be offering California students,” she said in an emailed announcement.

The event is part of a state-wide protest called the “State of Emergency,” coordinated by state education and labor groups. Educators, students and parents participated in a series of bold actions May 9-13.

The events include a sit-in at the State Capitol building in Sacramento and several regional rallies. For more information about the statewide events, click here.


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