California education advocates are gearing up for a seven-week march on Sacramento next month in the name of public education. One San Diego college professor plans to make the statewide trek.
Jim Miller is a 45-year-old English and labor studies professor at San Diego City College. He's organized a number of local rallies against budget cuts to higher education. He says the seven-week march will be an even more powerful weapon.
“It takes on its own dynamic,” Miller said. “You start to build and you get a chance to talk about things for a longer period of time, and bring together groups of people who perhaps don't always talk to each other.”
"Marching For California's Future" is being organized by the California Federation of Teachers. The 400-mile trek begins on March 5th in Los Angeles. Activists will walk through the Central Valley to the state's capital.
Organizers are calling on state lawmakers to reinvest in public education and other social services by doing away with the two-thirds vote needed to pass new taxes and a state budget. They say securing a quality education has become a civil rights issue -- and they're invoking the images and the teachings of Cesar Chavez to galvanize support.
A student-led day of activism will take place one day before the statewide march.
