Students, faculty and staff protested funding cuts to higher education at University of California and California State campuses across the state today. San Diego State faculty rallied ahead of a statewide strike next week.
Two days of protests centered on $650 million in cuts to each of the public university systems this year.
During lunchtime picketing today, SDSU faculty called for Cal State Chancellor Charles Reed to honor two overdue raises outlined in their current contract.
Watch Wednesday for more on this from KPBS Education Reporter Kyla Calvert.
Esbenshade said they are also protesting class sizes that have doubled in her decade on campus.
“You just cannot give the same kind of education, the same kind of attention, the same kind of teaching in terms of writing and skills and critical thinking in large classes as you can in small classes,” Esbenshade said.
Local faculty will travel to Cal State’s Dominguez Hills and East Bay campuses to support strikes there on Nov. 17th. Classes in the San Diego area will not be disrupted.
SDSU Senior Aaron Bae was watching the picketers. He said he’s seen budget cuts change the classes he takes.
“When a professor has 200 essays to grade I’m sure the quality of the education goes down and with smaller classes I think you get more of an intimate setting where you’re able to connect with the professor,” Bae said.
Protesters are also expected to rally at next week’s Cal State Board of Trustees meeting. Trustees are scheduled to vote on a 9-percent tuition increase that would go into effect if the state makes mid-year cuts to the system. That's on top of a 23-percent increase that went into effect this fall.
