Students Demonstrate for More School Funding

More than 20 university and high school students rallied in front of the state office building in Los Angeles on Friday to urge Gov. Pete Wilson to increase funding for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Facing rising expenses and a drop in state funding, the school board has been forced to reduce its budget by $274 million this year, largely by cutting employees’ salaries, increasing class size and slashing campus spending.

“We feel it is our responsibility to protest the fact that our education is going down the drain,” said Susan Goldberg, 17, spokeswoman for a student group called the Los Angeles Student Coalition. “That means giving up going to the movies and the shopping mall on a holiday weekend, because we have to take our protest to the streets.”