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Rally at Pershing Square

Natalie Ragus |
March 4, 2010 | 10:47 a.m. PST

Staff Reporter

Thousands of parents, students, and educators in Los Angeles packed Pershing Square on Thursday to rally against potential teacher lay offs and a proposed $2.4 billion cut to education. They marched from the corner of 5th and Hill streets to the Ronald Reagan Building on Spring Street. 

A recent vote by the Los Angeles Unified School District school board to send 5,200 preliminary lay off notices to teachers, counselors fueled the crowd's fervor. 

"We're here ... to send a message to California that (the budget cuts) are unacceptable," said Wilton Place School parent Alana Estrada. "Everyone has a right to an education."
Demonstrators packed shoulder-to-shoulder filled the streets of downtown L.A. Several gathered in a circle to dance to tuned played by Cal State L.A.'s jazz band.  
Banners declaring "walk for success, don't settle for less" waved in the breeze. Cries of "Hey, hey, ho, ho, budget cuts have to go," and "students united will not be divided punctuated the air.
Walking alongside several of his students, Central Los Angeles High School #9 history teacher Kyle Laughlin said his arts-centered campus will "really feel the cuts."
'I'm here to support arts programs across the state and my students," he said. "They deserve better."
 



 

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