News Media report the March 4 Education

The Oakland Tribune

70-mile Education Mmarch Planned

West Contra Costa school cuts spur parents, community activists to take complaints to Sacramento

By STAFF REPORTS

Thursday, March 18, 2004 - RICHMOND -- On the heels of a dire budget crisis that will wipe out athletics, close libraries and cut jobs in the West Contra Costa school district, a group of parents and community activists is organizing a 70-mile march to the Capitol in Sacramento to insist on equity-in-education funding.

The group held a rally at a Richmond middle school before the school board meeting Wednesday to announce the April 9 march from San Pablo to Sacramento.

The seven-day "March for Education" will end with an afternoon rally at the Capitol on April 16, organizers said.

Organizers are setting up meetings with local and state officials in the hopes of discussing equity-in-education funding; full funding of Proposition 98, which establishes a minimum funding level for K-12 education; and other issues.

Earlier this month the West Contra Costa school board voted to trim $16.5 million, making cuts to libraries, sports, music and personnel.

A few organizations, including the Oakland A's, Wells Fargo and The Mechanics Bank, have stepped forward to help the district, but money is only a short-term solution, district leaders acknowledged.

Organizers said they are holding the march to help educate the community about how the district got into debt. They say there are problems at the local, state and federal levels.

On March 2, Contra Costa voters rejected a parcel tax that would have pumped about $7.5 million annually into the cash-strapped district.

The tax received 62.5 percent of the vote, just shy of the two-thirds super majority needed to pass.