Thousands march to state capital

Nearly 2,000 students from across California rallied at the state Capitol Monday to protest the $1 billion in budget cuts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed for the state’s three college systems in 2008-09.

Students from the California State University, University of California and California Community College systems marched about a mile in the “March for Higher Education,” which participants regard as the first step to putting pressure on legislators to reprioritize the state budget.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi kicked off the event by asking the crowd, “Are you ready to march at the Capitol? Are you ready to stop student fees?” eliciting shouts of support from the students.

“Educate to Liberate,” and “Kick us out, we’ll vote you out,” were among chants from the crowd as it walked across a Highway 99 bridge through downtown and to the steps of the Capitol.

“We need to invest in students, not tax them,” said Garamendi, a Democrat. “We need to change so many things and focus on the students as a stimulus to the economy.”

The march was part of a statewide effort known as the Alliance for the CSU, a coalition of groups including the California Faculty Association, the California State Student Association and other CSU employee unions and student government groups. It came on the heels of a sweeping, campus-wide series of town hall teach-ins to gain support for the alliance.

Dina Cervantes, Chair of the Executive Committee for the CSSA, led most of the rally and introduced speakers.

“We are here to let the governor know we are the solution to the state budget,” Cervantes said. “They say they won’t raise taxes, but they are taxes to us in the form of that F-word we all hate: fees.”

The cuts to higher education, which amount to $312.9 million for the CSU in the 2008-09 year, are part of the governor’s cuts to all state services as state revenues continue to decline. Schwarzenegger has said all agencies must take cuts as California struggles with a budget deficit of $14 billion, a gap the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates may grow to $16 billion by June 2009.

The march is part of a series of activities to put pressure on legislators and the governor to spare higher education by the May 15 revised budget.

Members of the crowd, including parents, faculty members and employees of the school systems, made the approximate one-mile trek from Raley Field in West Sacramento to the state Capitol, where they convened at the front steps for a rally.

Once the full crowd reached the Capitol steps, there was a series of speakers for nearly two hours. Concurrently, there were rallies up and down the state at several UC and CSU campuses.

“Why should you have to be here today to let them know that you are a priority?” Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez asked the crowd. “It’s a shame that you have to be here today, outside this building, where just a month ago they decided they wouldn’t raise taxes for the rich.”

Tax increases for the rich were mentioned repeatedly by several speakers. Garamendi spoke of “those extremely conservative, extremely Republican” governors of days past who raised taxes to fund education during their term, a move Schwarzenegger has refused to do.

“Anyone who thinks this is new doesn’t know their history,” Garamendi said. “When Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson were governors, they were faced with the same problem. They raised taxes, made cuts, and kept the state moving. Now we need Arnold to do the same.”

Senate president Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) also proposed a tax increase, referring to it as the “only solution.”

“California has the highest cost of living in the United States,” Perata said. “But we have close to the lowest standard of living in the nation. Ask your legislators where they got their degrees and you’ll find most of them, Democrats or Republicans, went to a UC or a CSU. Now they want to deny you the education they were given.”

The concern among all speakers was that if budget cuts go forward, student fees will increase again while services and class sections will be lost. Nearly 10,000 students across the state are expected to be denied access to CSU because the new budget does not allow for enrollment growth. Along with higher education, K-12 is slated to lose $4.4 billion in funding.

“Yeah, we have a budget deficit,” said State Sen. Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat. “We also have an education deficit.”

After the initial Jan. 10 budget proposal, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature took emergency actions Feb. 20 to reduce the deficit with actions that included borrowing and delaying debt payments. A tax increase was voted down.

Emphasis was placed on the need for state legislators to reprioritize, and the amount of money the state spends on prison versus what it spends on education frequently came up.

“We have a world-class prison system and a second-class education,” Cervantes said.

Assembly member Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena), who is the Chair of the Committee on Higher Education, emphasized the Legislature’s need to sustain the state’s education system.

“These are the same people that are saying in order to solve the budget crisis, we should look to education as a place not to invest, but to take,” Portantino said.

All speakers emphasized that spending money on education would benefit the economy. Barry Pasternack, Chair of CSU Academic Senate, said the state gets a return of $4.41 for each $1 it invests in college students.

“There is no more important measurement than student intelligence,” Garamendi said. “We can build roads and dams and trains. But more importantly, we can build up the minds of people who can do these things.”

Students were encouraged to continue outreach in their own districts and communities about the need for funding.

“This is just one day,” said California Faculty Association President Lillian Taiz, who teaches history at CSU Los Angeles.

Taiz urged students to take part in the planned series of phone calls, e-mails and faxes to the governor’s office in what the Alliance for the CSU is calling the “Gov., can you hear us now?” movement that kicks off Wednesday and will continue until the May 15 budget revision.

Several university employee unions also came forward to speak. The State Employees’ Trades Council represents the university’s trade workers such as electricians, carpenters and maintenance workers.

“We may be the air and electricity for the universities, but the students have the power because they are the plug,” said Patrick Hallahan, chief labor consultant for the SETC.

“If you build it, they will come. If you maintain it, they will stay,” Hallahan said. “But if you sustain it, it will work not only for now, but for generations to come.”

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, a Southern California Democrat, likened cutting education to “turning our backs on economic prosperity.”

“In the 1960s, California had incredible foresight and genius for the future, and that’s when it put together the Master Plan for Higher Education,” Brownley said. “We kept that promise for decades, but now, these budget cuts represent a broken promise.”

Faculty members join in protest

Frustrated students weren’t alone in protesting the proposed budget cuts in Sacramento, as faculty members from nearly every California State University and University of California campus joined protesters to voice growing concern over the potential cuts.

In the effort to cope with an estimated $14.5 billion deficit in the state budget, state legislators have proposed cutting nearly $5 billion from the state’s public education system and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a cut of $312.9 million to the CSU budget. A total of $1 billion could be cut from higher education.

SF State President Robert A. Corrigan said in March that the university is estimated to fall $25 million short in its annual budget.

Students from SF State arrived in Sacramento at about 9 a.m. Monday morning to protest the cuts.

Among the faculty attending Monday’s rally was SF State lecturer Larry Salomon, who has taught in the ethnic studies department for 13 years.

‘”The California Faculty Association has been an important ally to the students during the budget crisis and in return we have received strong support from students — especially within the College of Ethnic Studies,” he said.

SF State CFA Chapter President Ramon Castellblanch said the CFA paid for three of the five buses SF State students took to Sacramento, while Associated Students, Inc. picked up the tab for the remaining two. CFA also paid the city of Sacramento for street closure permits to allow the march.

Salomon said one third of the courses offered in the College of Ethnic Studies could be dropped as a result of the proposed budget cuts, leading to an increased strain on students and faculty members alike. By graduating the majority of the college students in California, he added, the CSU system plays a vital role in the states economic future.

“I believe strongly in education,” he said. “I, along with everyone here today, want to see it continue to be accessible for everyone in California.”

Many of the faculty members who came to the march in Sacramento expressed similar sentiments to those of Salomon. Among them was Lois Boulgarides, the CFA representative from Sacramento State University.

“The budget cuts mean possible fee increases for students, and drastic cuts in classes offered,” said Boulgarides, who has been a lecturer in the kinesiology department at Sacramento State for 10 years. “The proposed cuts will also increase the workload for tenured faculty, and lead to cuts in faculty health benefits and, sadly, a loss of jobs.”

According to the CSU, the proposed budget would fail to provide funding for 10,000 students within the system and cut $36 million in mandatory costs including employee health benefits.

If the proposed budget goes through state legislature, SF State would feel the effects of the cuts as soon as the Fall semester.

Student support throughout the CSU and UC systems has been strong, Boulgarides said, adding that an “incredible” coalition has been formed between students and faculty to fight the fee increases that would result from a cut to the state’s higher education budget.

“Everyone has worked together to bring about change,” she said.

The SF State College of Ethnic Studies was well represented by students, adding to a “broad” coalition from SF State, according to Dean Kenneth Montero, who was also at the event.

“The students are serious,” he said. “Many students here are taking courses offered by the College of Ethnic Studies, but the message has to spread across campus for us to be successful.”

According to Montero, the College of Ethnic Studies will not be receiving a disproportion of the estimated budget cuts that will hit SF State.

“Our college will be harmed, but we won’t be going out of business. I worry that smaller ethnic studies programs will be crushed at other institutions.”

“I’m proud of the student leadership that has organized the event,” he added. “No one should assume that the person next to them will be protesting the cuts on their behalf…we all have to work together to create change.”

Schwarzenegger will announce a revised version of his budget proposal on May 14.

Staff writer Eric Gneckow contributed to these reports.