Marching to restore a dream

The Mamas and the Papas' 1965 song "California Dreamin'" blared from speakers at Sierra Presbyterian Church on Wednesday.

Hundreds of education and labor activists waved protest signs against cuts to public education and services as they poured onto the church lawn.

Marchers from the 48-day March for California's Future gathered for the sole purpose of restoring the dream that the '60s folk-rock band yearned for.

"Here's the future of California," said John Stewart of the Merced Mariposa Central Labor Council, into a microphone as marchers crossed Yosemite Avenue along M Street. "No more cuts. We're only part way on our journey. This is the beginning where working people of America assert themselves."

The march, which began March 5 in Bakersfield and will end April 21 in Sacramento, rallied in Merced on Wednesday, in part to honor the birth of labor hero Cesar Chavez, after marching from Planada.

The California Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and other labor unions organized the statewide march.

The activists will follow the same route Cesar Chavez took in 1966 from Delano to the State Capitol following grape workers as they struck for higher wages. On this leg of the marchers' 48-day journey, Merced/Mariposa California Teachers Association (CTA) united with the other unions to rally against the massive state cuts to education and public services.

The fact that people are marching up the middle of California should send a message to the state Legislature that something is wrong, said Rolf Talberg, of the CTA for Merced and Mariposa County.

"I hope the people in Sacramento are paying attention to this," Talberg said. "They need to get their noses to the grindstone to get this resolved. The fact that we can't sustain these institutions is sad."

In the past two years, the state has slashed its education budget by $17 billion.

This year, 150 teachers out of 2,700 in Merced County were issued pink slips.

In Mariposa County, 14 teachers out of 120 received preliminary layoff notices this year.

As one, marchers asked voters along their journey to sign a petition that would place the Majority Budget Act on the November 2010 ballot.

The initiative would require a 50 percent-plus-one majority to pass the budget, as opposed to the two-thirds majority now needed to pass the budget.

According to the group, the new provision would keep the minority from holding the document hostage so they can create tax loopholes for corporations or lower taxes for the highest income earners.

The group is looking for any way the state can raise revenue without taking away more funding from education and public services.

Placing an oil severance tax on companies that drill oil in California and raising income tax on the higher income-earning citizens are the group's main solutions to raising revenue.

Joel Knox, chairman for the Merced/Mariposa CTA, said it's not a question of supporting this or that -- something simply needs to be done.

"We have to either generate more revenue, or look at making cuts in other areas," Knox said. "We're getting 40 percent of our funding and 60 percent of cuts. They have got to start looking at other areas."

The lyrics seemed just right for Wednesday's march:

"I stopped into a church

I passed along the way

You know, I got down on my knees

And I pretend to pray..."

Except these folks weren't pretending.

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