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.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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