Fund Schools First Rally and March

RALEIGH, N.C., May 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Just say "no" to K-12 public education budget cuts. That's the message participants from across North Carolina want to send to the General Assembly on Saturday, May 15, during a rally and march against drastic state budget cuts to public schools.

The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and the North Carolina Parent-Teacher Association (NC PTA) are leading partners for the Fund Schools First Campaign, a coalition of educators, administrators, parents, families, local elected officials and the state Department of Public Instruction.

The General Assembly will have just begun its 2010 budget session, and participants will engage in activities such as cell phone calling, signing pledge cards, and marching, to make sure their voices are heard and their presence known.

"I was so pleased to see, at the NC PTA's annual convention last month, that more than 400 pledge cards were signed on the spot by parents who want legislators to know North Carolina can't afford to cut funding to public schools," said NCAE President Sheri Strickland.  "Families around the state are clearly demanding that the General Assembly Fund Schools First. We are all standing together – as concerned citizens in communities from around the state. Everyone is on the same page, asking for the same thing from legislators: to have the right budget priorities."

Many rally participants from western North Carolina will ride the train to Raleigh to attend the event. Educators have nicknamed this train the "Fund Schools First Express" (known as The Carolinian by Amtrak), and will walk from the Raleigh station to the NCAE Center upon arrival. The "Fund Schools First" Express begins in Charlotte and stops in Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham and Cary. The train arrives in Raleigh at approximately 10:50 a.m.

NCAE is the state's largest education association representing nearly 60,000 active, retired and student members. The Fund Schools First Coalition includes the NCAE, the NC PTA, the North Carolina Association of School Administrators, the North Carolina School Boards Association, and the North Carolina state Department of Public Instruction. For more info, visit www.fundschoolsfirst.com and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/fundschoolsfirst

SOURCE North Carolina Association of Educators