Retracing Cesar Chavez's steps: Educators protesting state spending cuts

Gavin Riley, a retired teacher from Cerritos, has walked a long way -- and still has a way to go.

His mission: to make California golden again.

Riley is part of Marching for California's Future, a 48-day walk that began March 5 in Bakersfield and ends in Sacramento on April 21.

On Tuesday, Riley and 30 other protestors walked under a cloud-filled sky along Santa Fe Avenue from Le Grand to Planada. Their purpose was to raise awareness about the state's massive cuts to public education and public services.

Their journey follows the same route Cesar Chavez took during the 1965 protest for higher wages for grape pickers.

"California has lost sight of its Golden State dream," Riley said. "We've gotten rid of services. We've let our infrastructure fall apart. We've created a tax system that favors the rich."

Riley is one of seven other core walkers who began the 260-mile journey March 5. Together they have held teach-ins, rallies and collected signatures in support of raising state revenues to end further cuts to public services.

Many of the marchers expressed support for putting the Majority Budget Act on the state ballot for November.

As of now, the state requires a two-thirds majority to pass the state budget, but the marchers are pushing to change this to a 50 percent-plus-one majority to pass the document.

According to the California Federation of Teachers, one of the groups supporting the measure and one of the main organizers of the march, the budget gets held hostage each year by a minority until the majority agrees to eliminate a tax or find some tax loophole for special interest groups.

Marchers said they also supported placing a severance tax on oil drilled in the state to raise revenues.

The marchers estimated that the state could generate $1.5 billion from the severance tax.

The group said it also supported rolling back tax breaks for the wealthy and tax loopholes for corporations to what they were 15 years ago.

Several community college students were spending their spring break on the road, protesting cuts.

Naomi Santa Cruz, 25, attends San Diego City College and said she plans to transfer to a University of California school next fall. She worries how she'll pay her tuition with all the fee hikes.

"The cost to attend college is ridiculous unless you are wealthy and ruining your parents' retirement plan," she said.

Other community college students said they have seen cuts firsthand because classes are overcrowded and it's tough to even get into certain courses because of cuts to sections.

Gregg Robinson and Michael Golden are both professors from Grossmont College. They said they came to march for the sake of students. In the past two years, the school has cut 800 classes, they said. "They're taxing the students with fee increases," Golden said. "(The state) is passing it on to the ones who can't afford it and they're our future."

Today, marchers will head from Planada to Merced and rally in Sierra Presbyterian Church from 3 to 6 p.m. in honor of Cesar Chavez Day.

Sierra Presbyterian Church is located at 3603 M Street.

Reporter Jamie Oppenheim can be reached at (209) 385-2407 or joppenheim@mercedsun-star.com.