Education : 300 Teachers, Parents Rally Against Cuts in Montebello

About 300 teachers, parents and students held a rally and marched on district headquarters Tuesday to protest budget cuts in the financially troubled Montebello Unified School District.

In April, the school board had approved a $19-million reduction that includes laying off about 200 employees, most of them temporary contract teachers who lack tenure protection.

The rally began at Montebello Park and ended in picketing in front of the district offices and speeches before the school board.

Demonstrators presented the board with more than 800 letters from parents and teachers of Bell Gardens Intermediate School and a petition with 2,100 signatures, said teacher and organizer Natalia Vargas.

Parents and teachers said the cuts will decimate a bilingual program that serves more than a third of the district’s students. The cuts include the district’s bilingual coordinator. Speakers also complained that classes will be overcrowded with the loss of the teachers.

Board members asked for patience, saying that the cuts are necessary to balance the budget. The entire district will have to shoulder the burden of the current financial crisis, board member Eleanor Chow said.

Teachers have planned another rally for tonight.