City College marches in Sacramento against cuts
By Lauren Tyler and Ellen Silk
FEATURES EDITOR AND NEWS EDITOR
Thousands of students, teachers and college staff, upset with a state budget that severely cuts money from education, rallied on the steps of the State Capitol March 16, fervently chanting, “You say cut back, we say fight back.”
Marchers came from all over California to assemble in Raley Field in Sacramento for the 10 a.m. march. An estimated 2,500 City College students, faculty and staff gathered at 7 a.m. to board 47 buses bound for Sacramento.
Matt Holms, an English major at City College, said he came out to support his American Government teacher who is losing his cost-of-living increase. “I hope [legislatures] will see it does affect a lot of people,” he said.
The crowd’s chant, “No cuts. No fees. Education should be free,” could be heard as they made their way across the Old Sacramento bridge.
“It would mean fewer hours for people, fewer jobs. We are already reeling from having to do double, sometimes triple, the work. We’re all hurting but we do the best we can. Cuts would be really disastrous, jobs just couldn’t get done,” said, Steve Kech, public information officer and member of Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The buses that ferried City College students and staff to Sacramento were sponsored by SEIU 1021, AFT 2121 Teachers Union, the Associated Students, the City College Bookstore and the CCSF Administration Association.
Edith Urrutia, a student in the Culinary department who was marching holding the department banner, is worried about classes in her major program. “Some classes have already been closed because there isn’t enough money to keep them open,” she said.
Students blocked traffic as they walked down Capitol Mall towards the capitol building. Many held signs stating California is ranked 48th in the nation in spending on education and number one in spending on prisons. They chanted, “We want education, not incarceration.”
A drum circle formed on the stage in the plaza as thousands of students reached the steps of the capitol building. The speakers took the stage at 12 p.m., starting with President of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges Richael Young.
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, one of the key-note speakers at the event, asked students to “not stop your protests until every quality California student has the best education.” He turned towards the capitol building and asked the legislature to “stop the disinvestment.”
Josh Nielsen, president of Associated Student Council at City College, also spoke. He told the audience that “education is a right, not a privilege.”
City College board of trustee member John Rizzo spoke in regards to the $80 billion in “rosy projections” by the state budget on top of an $8 million City College budget shortfall. “At that kind of level we’re going to have to make some tough decisions. This year we are making due with not filling open positions. Next year, if this continues, it looks like we are going to have to make some really hard decisions, possibly layoffs. We don’t want to do that. That’s why we’re here today,” he said.
Chancellor Dr. Don Q. Griffin said, “The major impact of the budget for us at City College is that we have to turn away thousands of students.
Approximately 10,000 students who wanted to take classes at City College we could not give them access. Many students who are attending might not get all the classes they need for their training or retraining for jobs.”