Students Schedule Rally Opposing Christie 2014 Budget

Students and community leaders announced they would stage a rally and speak out against Gov. Chris Christie’s 2014 budget on Tuesday, April 9 at Rutgers University Law School, organizers said Monday.

The protesters believe the budget fails to follow the law and fully fund New Jersey’s schools, according to a release sent out by the organizers. The organizers claim the governor has tried repeatedly to circumvent a state Supreme Court ruling saying the spending cuts Christie signed into law in 2010 were so deep, they violated the constitutional rights of the students.

The students say the 2014 proposed budget will not only cut funding for poor children and English language learners, but it will continue what they say is his policy of underfunding almost al of New Jersey schools around the state, the release said.

Students plan to call for full funding of the school funding formula and demand the state Legislature ask the state’s millionaires and corporations to pay their fair share so the state has the resources it needs to meet the formula’s requirements.

The rally, by the Newark Student Union, New Jersey United Students, New Jersey Communities United and Our Children/Our Schools will begin at 2 p.m. at the Rutgers Newark Center for Law and Justice, 123 Washington St. in Newark.