Black Thursday protests
Teachers, students and parents wore all black and protested funding cuts outside Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks on Thursday, dubbed “Black Thursday.” Milliken will lose several staff members if the budget cuts are passed.
Parents and teachers arrived at the school as early as 5 a.m. to protest. Latanya Montgomery, PTA president, said she became involved as a concerned parent trying to get others to come out against the increasing budget cuts affecting Milliken.
“We’re trying to let everyone know there’s going to be budget cuts,” Montgomery said. “We’re losing 18 teachers, a principal and we have 2,200 kids here.”
Milliken is a performing arts magnet school and is set to lose its magnet coordinator as well.
Montgomery added that they encouraged people to come out with their phones and call Republican senators to vote on a revenue measure to keep these cuts from happening.
Sixth grader Dylan Shepherd told ATVN two of his favorite teachers might be let go. Overcrowded classrooms are harder for teachers to control and allow little one-on-one time with students, Shepherd said.
“Right now I love school and it’s fun,” he said. “But if there’s 50, 60 kids in a classroom and they cut performing arts and everything, it’s gonna be boring and yeah, it’s gonna be terrible.”
