Students Fill the Capitol Steps for Education Rally

The Education Rally on the Idaho Capitol Steps brought out students from all across the Treasure Valley. Two high school girls organized the event in an effort to be heard on the issue of protecting public schools. 

When we originally talked about the event taking place, district officials had said they wanted the event to take place during lunch or after school hours. This way, it wouldn't distract from the school day. Nora, one of the organizers (green coat in photo above) said the time wouldn't be changing. This was to make a point. They wanted the event during school hours.

When Nora and Colette planned the Education Rally, they weren't sure what to expect. Would students become involved? Would students walk out of their classrooms in the morning and join them on the steps of the capitol building? They took a chance, made an event on Facebook and offered to send information to students that would help them remain private (due to the nature of the event).

Not only did the students show up but so did teachers and the community. This was all to take a stand against the Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

From Boise Weekly:

"The purpose of the demonstration is to make our voices loud and clear that we support public education and public education in Idaho. We (students) do not support our new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, and her vision for the future of education in the United States. We feel that it will create de-facto segregation in our school system based on factors such as economic status, gender, race and sexuality," the organizers wrote in a Q&A about the rally.

For an event where participation was a worry, the turnout was everything but sparse.