March 4, 2010 was a day of protest throughout California as students, parents, and teachers took to the streets to voice frustration with deep cuts to K-12 education as well as to public colleges and universities.

For the coming school year, the state faces thousands of teacher and administrator layoffs along with increased class sizes. The UC system and community colleges have experienced a 20 percent decrease in funding over the last three years while student fees have gone up 182 percent since 2002.

“The less affordable education becomes, the less likely low-income students will be able to get a college education,” said Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association and professor of history at California State University Los Angeles.

Earlier this year, Terry Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education’s government and public affairs division proclaimed higher education as “something that we all ought to be concerned about because we do know that in the 21st century nations that invest in science and technology and education will outperform those that don’t make those investments.”