Stand Strong for Public Education Rally

While Historic City News was covering Governor Scott’s speech to a crowd of supportive Tea Party members, just around the corner from the applause, a coalition of union members and students organized by Fight Back Florida were holding their own rally for public education.

“We need to stand up for education by showing up in mass numbers and have our voices heard,” wrote Dawn Chapman on the facebook event page.

Chapman’s call for the masses may have fallen on deaf ears as less than two dozen were on the side of SR-207 in front of the St. Johns County Fairgrounds. “They are expecting a thousand tea party members…so we need two thousand teachers, support personnel, parents, police officers, firemen, and union brothers and sisters,” Chapman wrote.

The demonstrators were displaying signs — some professionally made, some drawn with markers on poster board. Two of the organizers were armed with electric megaphones to lead the protesters in chants familiar from the recent March 25th Fight Back Florida rallies staged by the group in major cities across Florida.

One of the student leaders from the group told Historic City News Editor Michael Gold that his coalition was composed of working families, public employees, students, and the middle class in Florida who are under attack.

“We aren’t here to support one candidate over the other, we are called to action over Governor Rick Scott and his extreme legislature who have refused to listen to the people of Florida,” the spokesman said.

According to literature distributed by the organization, despite public outcry, extremist Governors and state governments across the country and in Florida are demanding that working families, teachers, and our public employees suffer the consequences for the economic collapse cause by Wall Street and Big Corporations.

“While Rick Scott is giving out billions in tax cuts to the wealthy, he’s claiming that anyone making more than minimum wage is bankrupting the state,” Historic City News was told. “It’s time to tell Rick Scott: hands off our rights, hands off our pensions, hands off our public education.”

About 300 workers and students were reported to have demonstrated in Gainesville during the March 25th rally — railing against the state government’s attacks and cuts.

In addition to Gainesville’s march and rally, Historic City News was told that fourteen other cities joined in a “day of action” against Governor Rick Scott’s attempt to make public employees pay for the budget crisis.

Protestors contend that Governor Rick Scott, a multimillionaire, holds public employees to blame for the budget crisis; like teachers, bus drivers and communication workers. Meanwhile, Scott has given record tax cuts to corporations and the rich – those, Fight Back Florida asserts, who, in truth, are responsible for the crisis.

The protesters at the fairgrounds today say that they will continue to fight “so the people’s needs are met – for education, emergency services, public transportation and social services.” The coalition group plans to meet and continue to fight to make the rich pay for the crisis Fight Back Florida says they created.