Thousands Rally Against California Education Cuts

SAN FRANCISCO -- "No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!"
That chant was shouted in every corner of San Francisco State University's campus on Thursday. Later in the day, demonstrators yelled it into their loudspeakers as they marched through downtown San Francisco and into Civic Center plaza.

Last fall, the University of California and California State University systems both announced tuition rate increases of more than 30 percent, and in addition to the fee hikes, university staff were furloughed and course offerings were cut. California's community college system has not been spared, either. And the budget pain is not specific to just higher education. The San Francisco Chronicle notes that according to the California Teachers Association, "school districts across the state have issued nearly 19,000 pink slips to public school teachers, warning that they may lose their jobs at the end of the semester."

Rallies, picket lines, walkouts and other demonstrations took place at all 23 of the CSU campuses and many of the CU campuses on Thursday. In the Bay Area, protesters eventually merged for one big rally at the Civic Center plaza.

While the protests were considered to be peaceful overall, there was disagreement among the groups of participants about what protest methods were most effective. A number of UC and CSU campuses reported that some protesters engaged in varying degrees of aggressive or destructive action, which was criticized by fellow activists as counter-productive. For example, the Golden Gate [X]press reported that an estimated 150 protesters at SFSU attempted to block a main intersection on the edge of campus as members and allies of the California Faculty Association (CFA) peacefully picketed alongside the same street. The account of the situation continues:

CFA organizers, who had issued a statement of non-violent, peaceful protest for the event, urged the group to clear the street. A CFA representative said the group who marched into traffic was not a part of the organized picket line.

"Students are angry and upset," said Sheila Tully, vice president of the executive board for the SF State CFA and an SF State lecturer. "They're exercising their free speech rights, but what I've told some of them is that when they do things like (block the street) the tactic becomes the news story and you lose the message."