Photos by Luke Thomas

By Luke Thomas

March 5, 2010

As many as ten thousand students, parents, school faculty and union members took to the streets of San Francisco yesterday as part of a coordinated day of action to protest cuts to education.

Dubbed “The Strike and Day of Action to Defend Public Education,” the largely peaceful statewide rallies were held to protest severe cuts to education resulting in thousands of teacher layoffs, class and course terminations, higher student fees and increased class sizes.

Demonstrators used picket signs, bullhorns, drums and sang slogans to get their collective message across: “We’re mad as hell and we’re not taking it anymore.”

Facing a $20 billion State budget shortfall, public education in California is being decimated by severe cuts impacting all levels of education in many districts and school systems, including San Francisco K-12 schools, CCSF and SFSU.

Protesters held signs indicating their frustration with California and federal budget priorities over public education spending, including prison spending, bank bailouts and war funding.

The San Francisco protest, which began at 24th and Mission streets, ended with a rally at Civic Center where speakers denounced the cuts and called on the State legislature to reexamine its budget priorities.