Rally targets Corbett's education cuts

What a rally against Gov. Corbett's education budget cuts lacked in numbers yesterday was more than made up for with passion.

About 100 people gathered outside school district headquarters to hear from education activists, former School Reform Commission chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan, as well as from parents and students.

They urged the crowd to call their elected officials to say Corbett's $1 billion in cuts for state public schools - which will mean a $292 million cut for Philadelphia - won't be tolerated.

Activist lawyer Michael Coard said that Corbett's drastic cuts will "increase my business" as a criminal-defense attorney.

"Here you have a governor who is cutting school funding but increasing prison funding," Coard shouted. "There's something wrong with that. That's why I call that: from failing to jailing."

Anna Figueroa, a parent of a son at Fitzsimons High School and a grandparent of 10 children, stood in the crowd wearing a "Parent Power" T-shirt.

"We do not want the governor to cut our budget, because our kids will lose out," Figueroa said. "We don't need to fail our children."

The rally was sponsored by a coalition of groups known as Protect Public Education, which formed last month to lobby against cuts.

While most of the protesters were orderly, a passionate few spilled onto Broad Street, blocking traffic.

Motorists blasted car horns and civil-affairs police officers wrangled the protesters to stand in only one lane of Broad, near Spring Garden.

Community activist Sacaree Rhodes said she blocked traffic because the drivers "need to know that this is an injustice. The schoool district is already leaning and here he comes with these cuts."

The district is planning community budget meetings next Thursday (6 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin High School, Broad and Spring Garden streets) and next Saturday (10 a.m. at South Philadelphia High School, Broad Street and Snyder Avenue).