Along Park Boulevard across from Roosevelt Middle School, hundreds of educators and parents held a rally on Saturday near Balboa Park against the Trump administration's proposal that would see potentially billions of dollars slashed from education.
"Everything is up in the air, so of course everybody is working from a platform of fear," said Lisa Hickman, the President of the Tustin Educators Association. Hickman and her colleagues chartered a bus from Orange County to be there for the rally.
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WATCH HEREHickman said what compelled her to make the journey is the concern she has for her students, now that their education could be determined by how much money is on the line.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration laid out a budget plan to cut billions of dollars in federal funding for K-12 higher education programs. California foots the bill for most of its education costs.
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SIGN UP "We're lucky in California it's less of a cut, but it's still a cut," said Hickman.
In Governor Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal, about half of the state's general fund -- about $115 billion dollars -- would go toward education. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, on average the U.S. Department of Education has funded anywhere from 10% to 20% of that figure over the past few years.
Even before the federal funds cuts were on the table, however, some teachers told NBC 7 that their classrooms were already stretched thin. With the proposed cuts by the White House, Hickman fears that special education students are at risk of losing educational opportunities.
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"It's not about where the funding should go, it's about do you respect and care about every child and do they deserve a public education?" said Hickman. "That weighs on us. We worry about our kids, even when we're not in the classroom, we worry about our children. They're our kids," she added.
One teacher told NBC 7 that they have been given a vague idea of what to expect from these cuts. Each school district in California is bracing for a cut to their budget anywhere from 8% to 15%. That's only part of the picture, however. It's still not entirely clear how these cuts could play out in California.
Educators marched down Park Boulevard and through Balboa Park, chanting against the proposed cuts. Rallygoers hope that the Trump administration will reverse course.
"The students in the classroom are our future generation. If you care about a country, if you care about a community, you care about the children in that community," said Hickman.
