On March 9, legislators, school administrators, teachers, parents and students gathered at John Muir Middle School to urge the governor to restore Proposition 98 funding. Demonstrators, many bearing signs and chanting slogans, raised their voices to save county schools.

Passed by voters in 1988, Proposition 98 established a minimum dollar amount the state must provide to schools as a stop-gap measure against budget cuts.

Last year, the governor struck a deal with the Education Coalition--a statewide group of education associations--to cut education funding below the mandated level in 2004­05. Under this agreement, the state would fully fund the proposition in the 2005­06 school year.

Now, however, if the governor's proposed budget is passed by state legislators in June, public schools will receive less money than expected under last year's deal.

And the effects of the cuts will hit close to home.

"The governor says he's not cutting public education, but in reality his plan calls for withholding $2.3 billion of funding owed to schools," said Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Colleen Wilcox . "The people passed Prop. 98 to assure minimal school funding and prevent politicians from balancing the budget on the backs of our children. It must be preserved."

San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Don Iglesias was also vocal in his disapproval of the governor's proposal.

"We are here today because the governor broke his promise," he said. "The voters' goal was to protect schools and students from harmful cuts. All of us in a position of leadership have the responsibility to keep our word."

One legislator--Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn--said she disapproved of Schwarzenegger's education cuts and vowed to stand by citizens in their fight to save public schools.

"The cuts are getting deeper and more permanent," she said. "And we are not going to take it."

Ronald Smith, a special day program instructor at Silver Creek High School in the East Side Union High School District and a member of the California School Employees Association Legislative Committee, said the reduction in education spending has stripped his classes of the essentials.

"We are not getting enough books," he said. He added that although the special day program is supposed to have seven teachers, it is managing with five.

Many demonstrators also came to the rally to show their support for teachers' labor rights. Leah Lisea, whose children attend Bernal Intermediate and Santa Teresa Elementary schools in the Oak Grove School District, said she disagrees with the governor's proposal to pay teachers based on merit rather than tenure.

"Teachers are overworked, underpaid and under-appreciated," she said. "The bottom line is you can't penalize teachers the way he is talking about. It is already a mess. It's really frustrating."