Newark HS Students Walk Out To Protest Cuts

NBC News

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/09/17676389-newark-high-school-students-walk-out-of-class-to-protest-budget-cuts?lite

Nearly a thousand of Newark high schoolers walked out of their classes Tuesday to protest budget cuts that include teacher layoffs, school closures and hits to after-school programs.

Students from half a dozen Newark schools walked out of class at noon chanting “Stand up, fight back.” They marched to Rutgers Law School, where the State Assembly was holding hearings on the proposed budget.

Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, proposed a $32.8 billion budget that includes an all-time high $8.9 billion for public education in the state.

Newark schools will receive $714 million but the protest organizers don’t think that is enough, as it would underfund the district by about $53 million.

“This $53 million is real; students see it in the cutting of clubs and extracurricular activities, sports, teachers and administration,” protest organizer Robert Cabanas of the group NJ Communities United told Reuters. “They don’t think they should have to see any of those things go.”

New Jersey’s state government has been in control of Newark schools for the past 18 years.

When the Christie’s budget proposal was unveiled in February, he noted that there were no cuts in individual districts. Christie’s office did not respond to calls seeking comment.