Laney rallies for education
Reginald James
Issue date: 3/18/10 Last update: 3/19/10 at 12:11 PM PST
Section: March 4 Demonstrations
Over 500 Laney College students, faculty and staff walked out of class on the March 4 "Day of Action" to protest cuts to education funding.
During a rally on campus, students, faculty and staff held signs reading "Schools not Jails, Schools not Wars!," "No privatization" and "Education saves lives."
Sara Connors, labor representative of the Peralta Federation of Teachers (PFT), the union that represents faculty, said the recent cuts showed a "crisis of priorities."
"When you go and try to access the library on Saturdays, it's closed. When you try to get into a class, they're closed," Connors said. "Our district administration knew these budget cuts were coming from the state and they gave themselves half a million dollars in raises."
Jabari Shaw, vice-president of the Laney BSU followed Connors with a song about the budget cuts entitled, "Chop from the Top."
"They need to chop from the top, cut the Board and administration," Shaw rapped. "Chop from the top, don't limit my education."
Alpha Lamba Fraternity VP Representative Dawna Williams, who co-emceed the event with ASLC Senator Brandy Smith, said the rally was not just a one day event.
"EOPS is suffering 50 per cent cuts, 50 percent cuts at DSPS. No childcare at College of Alameda," Williams said, referring to the COA Children's Center, which is slated to be closed. "Is Laney College Childcare next?"
Preschoolers at the Laney College Children's Center also walked out and marched on the quad, chanting hen around the campus repeatedly chanting, "No more cuts!"
The rally lasted roughly an hour, when hundreds marched towards downtown Oakland in two waves. The group marched past the Alameda County Superior Courthouse, a symbolic gesture in a state that pays more to incarcerate people than it does to educate them, organizers said.
At 14th and Oak St, the Laney College was joined by a group of Oakland high school students, and together, marched to Broadway.
Read complete story on TheBlackHour.com.
During a rally on campus, students, faculty and staff held signs reading "Schools not Jails, Schools not Wars!," "No privatization" and "Education saves lives."
Sara Connors, labor representative of the Peralta Federation of Teachers (PFT), the union that represents faculty, said the recent cuts showed a "crisis of priorities."
"When you go and try to access the library on Saturdays, it's closed. When you try to get into a class, they're closed," Connors said. "Our district administration knew these budget cuts were coming from the state and they gave themselves half a million dollars in raises."
Jabari Shaw, vice-president of the Laney BSU followed Connors with a song about the budget cuts entitled, "Chop from the Top."
"They need to chop from the top, cut the Board and administration," Shaw rapped. "Chop from the top, don't limit my education."
Alpha Lamba Fraternity VP Representative Dawna Williams, who co-emceed the event with ASLC Senator Brandy Smith, said the rally was not just a one day event.
"EOPS is suffering 50 per cent cuts, 50 percent cuts at DSPS. No childcare at College of Alameda," Williams said, referring to the COA Children's Center, which is slated to be closed. "Is Laney College Childcare next?"
Preschoolers at the Laney College Children's Center also walked out and marched on the quad, chanting hen around the campus repeatedly chanting, "No more cuts!"
The rally lasted roughly an hour, when hundreds marched towards downtown Oakland in two waves. The group marched past the Alameda County Superior Courthouse, a symbolic gesture in a state that pays more to incarcerate people than it does to educate them, organizers said.
At 14th and Oak St, the Laney College was joined by a group of Oakland high school students, and together, marched to Broadway.
Read complete story on TheBlackHour.com.
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