Teachers Rally to Raise Hope

Don Helverson is a teacher at , who followed this event for Patch.

As early as 2:30 p.m., many stood in a ticket line for longer than five minutes at North Hollywood station. By 3 p.m., lines stretched from the ticket machines almost to the bottom of the escalators and stairs. By 3:30, it was like the World's Fair.

"Why is it taking more than 10 minutes in line to buy a ticket?"

"Why are all the people wearing red shirts?"

"What's with all the placards?"

Everyone not dressed in red had questions about the congestion. But the answers were written large across the signs and buttons of the hundreds of Valley teachers heading to Pershing Square.

"Save Our Schools"

"My Future Depends on My Teachers"

"85% Cuts in Arts Means 85% Less Arts"

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"School Psychologists Save Lives"

The culmination of rally week was a huge gathering in Pershing Square at 3:30 in the afternoon. Most were wearing their (UTLA) union's red shirts. But union members came from distant districts, gathering in support. Students and teachers, parents and union members from all areas of labor and government service joined in a public display of solidarity and good will, showing unity in the face of dessimation from budget cuts.

It had been a week of gatherings across the nation. Rally week included phone-a-thons for run-off elections, pushes to change minds and votes, protest marches across the country, countless speeches about the horrors of budget cuts that will tear apart the social and cultural fabric of public education nationwide.

More than 5,000 teachers, students, families and members of countless other supportive union organizations gathered in front of LAUSD headquarters at Beaudry and marched to Pershing Square for the huge protest to budget cuts targeting public education from Kindergarten through college.

Volunteers passed out free, chilled, bottled water. Entertainment and speeches broadcast from the main stage at Pershing Square from the start of the rally, which started after the march from Beaudry, headquarters of LAUSD, to Pershing Square.

The mood was very positive, energy high, but it felt desperate, like the support of neighbors during a neighborhood fire. And, just like at a neighborhood fire, everyone hopes their house—and the houses of their favorite people—will stay free of the flames.

It was a hopeful Friday the 13th, but it's a political climate both dark and suspenseful. This was the chance for all who valued education to chime in. We'll see what happens after today's bell has rung.

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