Dallas Lincoln High Students Rally To Support Teachers
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - "Save our teachers! Save our teachers!" The chant echoed off the concrete parking lot of Lincoln High School.
"It's time for us to get involved," student DaMarcus Offord uttered through a battery-powered megaphone.
Offord, the senior class President for the south Dallas high school, was surrounded by approximately 200 fellow students, leading a rally of support for the school's teachers and against projected teacher layoffs that could affect the school.
"If you lose the teachers, you lose the students," Offord said.
The morning student-led rally began the school day for Lincoln High. Dallas ISD police officers, campus security, teachers and administrators watched from a distance, while the student group joined a handful of parents to protest against the state's anticipated $10 billion cut in education funding.
The Dallas School District outlined a $253 million deficit that would cut 3,900 jobs.
The Lincoln High rally focused on a message for the State Legislature and Governor Rick Perry.
Parent Regina Frank said she made a point to join her son at this morning's rally. "Some of these kids are coming to school just because they have that relationship with that teacher," she said, "empowering the kid to come to school to get that education."
Student leader Offord said student voices should also matter on education funding issues. "We want to say to Governor Perry, 'we do care about our teachers.'"
