San Ramon Parents Rally Against Cuts to Education

Despite the 15-mile trip in the middle of rush-hour traffic, a handful of San Ramon parents joined upward of 200 others at a Thursday rally to protest cuts in school spending.

Parents, students, activists and other stakeholders converged at the run-down College Park High School to make a statement: Make education a higher priority in California, which has some of the lowest per-pupil spending in the nation.

Melissa Kutrosky, whose two children attend school in San Ramon Valley Unified School District, was one of those who made the trek north from San Ramon to attend the early evening event.

"We have really excellent schools in our district," said Kutrosky, whose two children attend school in San Ramon. "We're so fortunate. It's the number-one asset of our community. It's the number one reason people move (to San Ramon), and we need to protect them."

Folks came from Concord, Antioch, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Moraga and various other cities around the East Bay. More than a dozen speakers from state legislators to leaders of business and education organizations and even a former cast member of the TV show "Survivor" joined the crowd to encourage them to keep up the fight against the further degradation of California's education system. The Contra Costa County superintendent of schools, the president of Diablo Valley College, a St. Mary's College basketball star and a high school student body president also addressed the crowd with personal anecdotes and calls to political action.

On a table to one side of the quad, the Contra Costa County Parent Teacher Association laid out packets of pre-written letters for attendees to sign. The letters – one of which was addressed to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – implored lawmakers to consider how their decisions translate to the reality of a broken education establishment, from kindergarten through college.

Fifteenth District Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan begged the audience to keep drawing attention to the dire straits of California's schools even during summer break.

"We're in the biggest battle we've ever been in," she said. "You have to keep this up."

For information about the California Parent Teacher Association, including instructions on how to get in touch with legislators and how to organize a rally, go to www.capta.org.