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Stephen Voltattorni

Staff Writer

On March fourth, students could be found participating in a strike on campus followed by a march starting in Downtown L.A. for a about a mile to the governors office; all to defend public education.

“The purpose of the strike today is not only to unify people across higher education institutions including CSU’s, UC’s and community colleges, but there is also action and support amongst K through 12 teachers and parents; some districts have support all the way from the administration and down,” Lucy Guanuna, 23, Journalism major at ECC, said.

“It is a day of action to actually set the priority of the nation straight and in particular it is a day of action to protect public education,” Ali Ahmadpour, ECC professor, said.

“We are striking to basically convince politicians of the fact that education and, in my opinion, health have the priority of the state; and it is not the priority of the state,” Ahmadpour said.

“As we talk, so many corporations and companies are very, very active trying to privatize other public schools,” Ahmadpour said.

“I never ever would have imagined that the UC’s budget, 17 percent of it comes from the state’s the rest comes form big companies and so fourth, so; therefore, they have a huge influence on all the decisions we make in the campuses of America,” Amadpour

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said.

Amongst all the hardship we are experiencing at this time, there was one highlight mentioned about ECC.

“I am actually very happy with the way, in my opinion, our administration, honestly, is doing a good job in confronting this crisis but it’s not about my school or this school or that school, it’s all about the whole system,” Ahmadpour said.

“It is all about what is priority,” Ahmadpour said.

Much of the detailed information that helped to organize the rally could be found on-line.

“Go to kpfk.org, click on democracy now and listen to the show and you will hear Mr. Arnold and you will hear so many great scholars addressing this issue,” Ahmadpour said.

The majority of the strike was driven by the misappropriation of funds as seen by those who were fighting to make education and health, which most believe go hand-in-hand, No.1.

“There is so much money going to war and so much money being spent on the prison industrial complex,” Guanuna said.

“Considering how many schools, we have the highest percentage of students in California and we spend more money on the prison industrial system then we do on schools,” Guanuna said.

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“If your taking away fro m education and building prisons, what does that tell our

youth,” Guanuna said.

Some participants outside the ECC campus that were found walking downtown L.A., among the thousands, decided to come for different reasons.

“I came out here today because I wanted to show my support; I feel that if you stay home you are not really contributing or trying to do your part towards change,” Maria Cedillo, sociology graduate student at Cal-State L.A., said.

Ulis Williams, retired president of ECC’s sister college, Compton College, decided to walk, “to support the students, first of all, as well as teachers because the strength of inner society is really the health of the people and also the education of the people is very important.”

All-in-all the day’s rally seemed to be free of violence yet very loud, at least that was the case here in campus as well as downtown L.A., in other parts of the country the news showed violent pictures of police billy-clubing walkers during protests in the streets.

“This is huge, it’s gonna go down in history, I mean that the unification of students, teachers, and workers across the educational board coming together is unprecedented; I think that the movements of the 60’s were about students and free speech and it was supported by teachers but this is the first time we’re actually coming

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together in a very democratic practice where everyone was involved,” Guanuna said.

Hopefully this day will indeed go down in history after all the time and energy

that was put into it by thousands of people and it will make an impression as well as

strike a chord with the Governor along with all other politicians; if so, it will be a success.

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