Community college teacher Jim Miller (right) and others set out on the 260-mile march to Sacramento on March 5. David Bacon photo

Following in the steps of Cesar Chavez, educators and other labor activists are trekking 260 miles through California's Central Valley to raise support and public consciousness about California's perilous future. The March for California's Future begins today with a rally in Los Angeles and a launch from Bakersfield. Forty-seven days from now, the walkers will arrive in Sacramento.

The core group includes four teachers and a community college faculty member who belong to the California Federation of Teachers and a probation officer and firefighter. Sponsored by the CFT, AFSCME and a coalition of labor, education and faith groups, the march has three goals:

• To reclaim the promise of quality public education and services;
• To rebuild state government so it works for everyone;
• To restore fair and equitable taxes to invest in California's future.

Picking up where yesterday's Day of Action to Defend Public Education left off, the marchers will link with other supporters all along the way-- hundreds of firefighters, educators, nurses, in-home-care workers, students and police officers. They will help register voters, hold teach-ins and town hall meetings, and educate more of the public and legislators about how Californians can reclaim prosperity.

A primary activity will be collecting signatures to put a Majority Budget measure on the November ballot. Right now, California is facing down a $20 billion deficit, with cuts and fee increases in the offing that are almost unimaginable. Last week, 900 teachers in San Francisco got pink slips.  In the University of California system, the University Council-AFT, which represents lecturers and librarians, is preparing to see 1,000 of its 3,000-person unit, disappear next semester.  At the same time, students will be paying a 32 percent fee increase, hundreds of thousands are having the community college doors slammed in their faces, and classes are being cancelled or overenrolled.

It doesn't have to be this way, says the CFT. California is one of three states that require a two-thirds Legislative supermajority to pass a state budget. This requirement has led to severe dysfunction year after year as a small minority of lawmakers hold the budget process hostage to ends not supported by the majority. The CFT is part of a coalition that is working to change the two-thirds requirement to a simple majority of 50 percent plus one. They must collect one million signatures by early April to put the initiative on the ballot.

"I am marching because...we are slamming shut the doors of opportunity and gutting our infrastructure," says Jim Miller, a professor of English and Labor Studies at San Diego City College and a member of the AFT Guild, Local 1931. "We must restore majority rule to Sacramento's broken budgeting process and bring back a fair and equitable progressive tax system."

"Our current policies are driving students to prison instead of college," says fellow marcher Jenn Laskin, a reading specialist and teacher at Renaissance Continuation High School in Watsonville. She is a member of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers.

The CFT has set up a special Web site to allow the public to follow along.