Students Join In Protest on the "Day of Action to Defend Public Education"
Students joined in protest at public colleges and universities across the nation on March 4, 2010, primarily in an effort to call attention to state education cuts and the rising cost of tuition.
At the University of Washington, the Seattle Times reports, hundreds of students marched on the Quad, while at Evergreen State College near Olympia, Washington, students took part in a mock "funeral" for education, complete with the delivery of a coffin to the state capitol. Video has emerged of students interrupting a legislative session by singing a creative version of "Amazing Grace," before being peacefully ushered away. The Oregonian reports that students at Portland State University assembled a rally of approximately 200 students.
At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, police officers used pepper spray in an effort to break up a crowd of students storming the chancellor's office, resulting in 15 arrests, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Video shows students throwing snowballs at Chapman Hall, and officers arresting a student.
In California, protesters literally took to the streets, as the Los Angeles Times reports that over 100 protestors blocked freeway traffic before being arrested. One eyewitness caught the event on video. Students at the University of California Irvine also joined in protest.
While nationwide protests were largely targeted at higher education, some California middle schools and high schools joined the cause, with over 500 students at the Los Angeles Unified School District participating in walkouts. The L.A. Unified School District—the nation’s second largest district—made headlines earlier this week when it announced it would issue approximately 5,196 layoff notices to faculty and staff. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the move “would virtually eliminate school nurses and librarians, increase class sizes in fourth through eighth grade to a potential high of 44 students in middle school, and boost counselor loads to 1,000 students each.”
All major news networks, including CBS, NBC, and ABC reported on the March 4 protests.
