A rally made its way through Fresno on March 22, starting in the Tower District and ending near the water fountain at Fresno City College.

The participants for the Marching for California’s Future rally voiced their demands while on campus.

“What do we want?” “Education!”

“When do we want it?” “Now!”

Randy L. Ghan, the chief executive officer of the Central Labor Council, a labor union providing for teachers, proudly led the chants and rally events that day.

“We are out here to heighten people’s awareness to the dream being diminished by the budget cuts,” said Ghan, as he referred to the pursuit of higher education.

Walkers participating in the march were in their 17th day of travel to the state capitol building in Sacramento, only stopping briefly in the valley to visit Fresno City College.

Marcher David Lyell said class sizes keep ballooning.

“In my work as a substitute teacher, it is difficult to meet the needs of my students,” Lyell said.

Lyell was present along with four other marchers, who began marching in Bakersfield.

Zwi Reznik, the president of State Center Federation of Teachers and a mathematics instructor at Fresno City College, said the marchers wanted to do something dramatic.

“We are not going to keep slamming the door in students’ faces,” Reznik said.

Though the Marching for California’s Future rally was not an official part of the “March in March” event on Sacramento the same day, Reznik said, “They know about us like we know about them.”

The fight demonstrated by the rally for California’s future speaks about budget cuts, reforming legislature regarding education and its budget for prisons, ending the two-thirds majority vote needed in California to set the budget.

Gretchen Gillespie, a child development student at FCC who is working to become a preschool teacher, agrees with the principle grievances of the rally and hopes action will be taken towards higher education.

“They are cutting a lot of classes I want to get into,” Gillespie said. “They are not offering as much as they used to,” referring to the depleted schedule of courses.

Staff writers Will Christensen and Valerie Hill contributed to this report.