Forsyth County teachers, staff and community members piled onto buses early Friday morning to head to Raleigh for the May 1st Kids Over Corporations protest.
Thousands of school workers across the state will be gathering at Halifax Mall, urging legislators to make a greater investment in public education. WFDD Education Reporter Amy Diaz talked to some of the rallygoers on the bus about what brought them out:
Exceptional Children Teacher Lee Childress: “We don't have a budget, and our people are struggling, and a report came out yesterday that we'll see the first decrease of any state in this country in pay and in resources because they have not passed the budget. So it's time."
Wake Forest University Librarian Jemma Johnson: "I'm very passionate about public education, specifically, and the fact that there isn't enough being done for kids and teachers and supporting the most important part of what our tax dollars go to."
Southeast Middle School Media Coordinator Dana Dehart: "I see the effects on every classroom and every student in the school from lack of funding for both the students and funding to have adequate staff."
Forsyth County Association of Educators President Jenny Easter: "Our children come first, no matter what. And if we can't afford to keep our public schools running the way they should, they need to do something different.”
WFDD will have more on the protest this afternoon on All Things Considered.