Other+Protests+Happening+Now

Stories on any other protests you find concerning education generally--K through 12, etc.

Kevin Daniele [] This video I found on youtube.com, was an education protest at CSU long beach that just occurred yesterday. This protest is much what I would imagine or protest to be like. It was a bunch of college students, teachers, and some alumni from Long Beach who felt the need to protest against the budget cuts. I feel that it was a very good protest, but the problem is they are protesting at the school, when I feel that will not do anything. The school has no say in the spending of money, they are given a budget by the state and they have to stick with the budget given to them. The only way a protest can be affective is if you go straight to the source of the problem and rally there. A protest at the college that you attend will only cause more distractions at the school that there already are, and it will not get any point across to the people that really have a say in the way our tuition money is spent. Everyone agrees that the budget cuts to our colleges are absurd in our colleges, so it makes no sense preaching to the quire. Go and protest and the governors mansion, then see if you turn a few heads or not. That is the only way the message will really be heard by anyone of importance with this matter.

Kyle Brown [] I found a video on youtube that was a video of the UC Berkeley walk out rally on September 24, 2009. This rally was made possible by U.P.T.E. along with all of the campus unions and student groups and organizations in order to stop furloughs, wage cuts, and massive registration fees. In the beginning of the video the use of showing protesters with their signs saying “I can’t afford school anymore” along with other things, along with the voice of the speaker is very empowering. It makes me wish that I was there to show my support. The second speaker talks about how a university “Is not a brand name, it is not an umbrella organization, for 150 assorted corporate laboratories.” This is how I view many colleges today. Personally I don’t see colleges as an institution for learning for anybody except for the students and some teachers. I see colleges as a business; giving the president large amounts of money and 4 years of time, for a piece of paper that says you have completed your college education. A late speaker says that California, by itself, is the 9th largest economy in the world. Since this is true, I thought to myself “How do we not have money to give to education? How is it that we have to cut money from the public education budget if we have a bigger economy than some countries?” This video has made me realize that there must be money for education somewhere where it would not cause a huge deficit. I am planning to do research into this topic and figure out what programs have been brought to the legislature.

Kyle Garrett http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE2A7PQfiRQ This article did a very good job of using visual aids to get people’s attention and get them to join them in their protests. They had a coffin saying “R.I.P. Education” on it. They took it to various buildings were the higher officials were in the college and some wouldn’t even let them in. They all got kicked out the second time. The coffin represented our dying education and the students were not afraid to let the people know how they felt. They were pretty much just like any protester, they were letting them know that they are tired of this mess and they are out there marching for it. It didn’t really mention what their plans for the future were; they were mostly focused on right now. The coffin was defiantly an inspiration to the students. They called the march a funeral and said that every student needs to attend it. They used good facts from the recent bailouts to show where some of the money is going to stir up the students a little bit and want them to take action. I believe people will get a good impression out of this article because I know I did. Watching this makes you want to go protest.

Daniel Nilson (Wiki 3) [] This article titled, “Thousands protest California education cuts”, by Carla Rivera and Nicole Santa Cruz and Larry Gordon talked about schools from San Diego to Humboldt that participated in, what officials were calling, the "Day of Action for Public Education.” Students all over California were gathering around their campuses to help protest the fact that we, as a student body, are not going to deal with the budget cuts that are happening. At Cal State Long Beach approximately 2,500 students gathered to protest. More than 2,000 people marched down to Los Angeles' Pershing Square, about 500 people had gathered at Bruin Plaza at the UCLA campus, At Wilson High in Long Beach, about 2,000 attended an after school meeting in the gym, at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, about 50 students gathered in front of the student union, At UC Santa Cruz, about 200 pickets blocked access to the campus, at UC Berkeley, about 150 people blocked Sather Gate, the main pedestrian entrance to campus. Before reading this article I knew that budget cuts was a serious issue and I knew that people were doing all they could to get education back to the way that is used to be, but what I did not know is how other parts of California were reacting to this major crisis. After reading this article I was pleased to know that schools all over California have the same feelings and are doing all they can to protest to government officials. This was one of many different protests I have found that have been going on. The next protest that I know of is happening at CSU Chico on Wed, March 10, 2010. I have never attended a protest before but I will be attending the protest at Chico State hoping that the students and faculty can come together to show officials that we are as serious as every other school in California and will not stop protesting until us students get the education that we pay for.