Pedaling for Change: 200+ Bike to the State Capitol on Saturday

This Saturday, May 11, more than 200 Oakland-based parents, students, teachers and community members will bike through Davis en route to the state capitol to advocate for more funding for public education.

Mike Napolitano, who graduated from Davis High School in 1980, is a co-founder and organizer of Ride 4 A Reason, now in its fifth year. He will bike the entire 109 miles from Oakland to Sacramento with his son. 

Paul Kagiwada and Lyn Hikida, two other Davis High alumni, will ride the 45-mile leg from Vacaville to the capitol steps with members of their families.

In its most recent ranking of the states, Education Week ranked California 49th in funding per K-12 student. And according to the California Budget Project, for California to reach the national average in state funding per student, it would require three times the revenue expected under Proposition 30. 

Napolitano said, “Nothing could be more important to California’s future than providing adequate funding for our schools. What we can’t afford is to continue the status quo.”  

Most riders will depart Oakland near sunrise, stop for lunch at Central Park in Davis, and arrive in Sacramento in the afternoon heat to participate in a rally on the north steps of the capitol that begins at 4:30 pm. State Superintendent of Education Tom Torlakson is the featured speaker this year.

The event also is a fundraiser for enrichment programs at four north Oakland public schools. For more information, including route maps that show where the course goes through Davis, visit http://rideforareason.dojiggy.com.