::View a slideshow and video of the protest::
A city bus packed with students, teachers, parents and children erupted with cheering on Wednesday afternoon as the driver announced the next stop: the state capitol building.
The streets outside were lined with more than 4,000 Arizonans making their way to March4Schools, a rally at the state’s capitol complex to oppose the expected 2010 budget cuts for Arizona’s education system.
Leona Chavez and Stephanie Reese, both second-grade teachers from Eisenhower Elementary School in Mesa, stepped off the bus to join the rally against further budget cuts, which are expected to be much larger than those made in fiscal year 2009.
“I’m concerned about the education of the kids that are in my classroom,” Reese said. “If they make a lot of cuts for teachers, then that’s going to take away from the educational opportunities [for] students.”
Chavez said teachers at her school are paying for their own essential supplies like paper and crafts that the district can no longer afford to buy after this year’s budget cuts.
“Our personal income shouldn’t always have to go back into the classroom all the time,” she said. “It’s getting to that point.”
Valerie Thomas, a first-grade teacher at Higley Elementary School in Mesa, said her school has been forced to regulate the use of utilities in the classrooms.
“They’re turning off all the lights in the hallways and letting natural light in,” she said. “If you can stand it in your own classroom, they’re saying, ‘Turn your lights off and work in the dark.’”
Thomas said she worried about the future of education for her children, who attended the rally with her.
“Their class sizes are already high, and we’re being told that they’re going to be much higher,” she said. “They’re not going to have books, and they’re already sharing books in a growing district.”
Several Democratic lawmakers who also oppose budget cuts walked over to the rally immediately after hearing Gov. Jan Brewer speak to a joint session of the state Legislature.
Amid chants of “Save our schools” and “Where’s our governor?” the legislators moved to the stage to address the protestors.
House Minority Leader David Lujan, D-Phoenix, introduced the Democratic legislators who voted against cutting education funding in January.
“These are the true champions of education in Arizona,” he said.
The Republican members of the state Legislature who approved the first cuts and proposed the next, are ignoring the student and teacher vote, he said.
“If they will not hear your voices then you need to replace them with people who will hear your voices,” he said.
Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, delivered a passionate speech to the protesters, as she said, “with fists raised above my head once again.”
Aboud urged students not to give up the fight for education funding, saying they need to be persistent in order to be noticed.
“The loudest community is the last to get cut,” she said. “If the students are quiet and don’t protest, they will be cut.”
Sen. Jonathan Paton of Tucson was one of few Republican lawmakers who attended the rally. He said he was pleased with the turnout, but the state’s problem was bigger than funding for just one sector.
Education is important, he said, but the state has to work to make sure small businesses can stay open to provide a stream of revenue to the state.
“You have to make sure the business community doesn’t collapse,” he said. “You can’t tax somebody when they’re out of business.”
The relationship between business and education resembles the chicken-or-the-egg problem, he said, where you cannot have one without the other.
“I don’t think there is a best solution,” he said. “Unfortunately, nothing is for free in this world.”
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.
