On March 7, we successfully brought back the “March in March.” Over five hundred faculty, students, staff, and community members from across the state joined us to march to “Protect Students’ Futures.” AFT 1521 led the way, getting over two hundred students, faculty, and staff to the march. The District supported the march by giving us funding to pay for the transportation and food for the students.

Most of the major television networks were there to cover the event. State Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, California Federation of Teachers (CFT) President Jeff Freitas, State Deputy Chancellor Dr. Daisy Gonzalez, Advocacy Manager for the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges (FACCC) Anna Mathews, and LACCD Student Trustee Alexy Cordova were among the speakers. The speeches ranged from protecting the education budget to the fight against legislation like AB 1705, affordable housing, and low-cost tuition. The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd was amazing. For some of our students, it was their first time on a plane, and for many, it was their first time to the state capitol. The program finished with a beautiful original song by one of our talented LA Trade Tech students.

I want to thank our committee of over thirty faculty and staff who met weekly since August to make this event a reality. I also want to thank our staff for all their hard work to make this event a reality. Our intern coordinator, Juan Carlos Vasquez, hustled to get over one hundred and fifty students to participate and designed our T-shirts and logos. Our Executive Director, Leslie Simon, handled all the logistics, from getting the permits to arranging the route, contacting all the relevant authorities, getting the sound systems, and keeping everyone on task. I also want to thank our staff, Robert Salazar, for all his hard work arranging ground transportation and our political director, Eddie Torres, for organizing the flights. I also want to thank all of you who came out in support that day; I appreciate all you do. This is the beginning, and we plan to make this an annual event. We hope you can join us! This was indeed a Wednesday Win.