Five high schools of the Fremont Union High School District have started a campaign to petition the State legislature to fight Gov. Davis' proposed budget cuts, which total $5 billion and would slash funding for schools statewide.

"Education is not merely an expense; it is an investment in the future," says Sherman Wang, president of the Monta Vista High School Associated Student Body.

Worried that they will not receive a well-rounded education because of the budget cuts, Wang and his classmates have decided to do something. They held an emergency conference with representatives of 13 other high schools in the Bay Area, and on Jan. 26, they founded the California Student Coalition (CSC). "I cannot imagine going through my day without going to drama or workshop or participating in after-school sports," says Wang, who plays football and sings as a tenor in the school's choir.

CSC members have set up information desks in the quads of their schools during lunchbreak to encourage classmates to sign the petitions and letters they will send to the Legislature. They have also set up a website, www.csceducation. org, where students can download the prepared petition letter and learn more about the budget cuts. So far the CSC has collected 5,706 signatures. They aim to get 10,000 signatures before the Legislature votes on Davis' budget proposal on Feb. 15.

On Feb. 8, the CSC held a demonstration at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose. There were bands, art exhibitions and all kinds of performances. About 400 students joined the demonstration

"We want to have all extracurricular activities at the demonstration to show people it would be a great loss if they were canceled because of the budget cuts," says Felisa Vilaubi, a CSC representative of Fremont High School.

But students are already feeling the budget pinch.

Vilaubi, a senior, says teachers at Fremont have tried many methods to cut expenses. Teachers have made fewer copies of teaching materials, so students have to share with their classmates.

Vilaubi says budget cuts have become a dinner table topic because her parents work at high schools. "My parents are worried education is going to be changed drastically," she says.

At Homestead High School, teachers are not getting new books, and no substitutes are hired, according to Ian Carter, a Homestead student representative for the CSC.

"Although the district doesn't know what will happen, the worst scenario is that one-third of the teaching force will be cut and most of our electives will be canceled," Carter says. "We understand the budget crisis, so we are not going to tell the Legislature what to do. But we want the legislators to know we students care."

Jean Tseng, vice president of Lynbrook High School's junior class, says, "We feel the governor is taking away our already deprived programs such as art, theater, music and athletics," Tseng says.

Tseng says she is upset because classmates are apathetic about the petition.

"They don't think the budget cut is going to affect them," Tseng says. "But they don't know the seniors are going to be affected, too, because Gov. Davis also proposed budget cuts on higher education."

Davis has proposed a cut of $74 million to the University of California system in the 2002­03 year and an additional cut of $59.6 million in the California State University system. This proposal has caused an increase in tuition in both systems.

To make the Legislature understand they care, students are planning a bigger demonstration in Sacramento.

"We may be young, but we are willing to go out there and get active," Wang says.

For more information about the California Student Coalition, visit www.csceducation.org.