The group responsible for starting this campaign is known as March4Education, based in Richmond, California. The organization was created in response to the disproportionate toll taken by the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) as a result of the disorganization (and budget deficit) the district inherited from past administrations, as well as the drastic effect of the Swarzenegger budget cuts on both basic and extracurricular public school programs staple to most every school in this country. Currently at Richmond High School, there are NO counselors, NO school psychologists, NO Librarians, indefinitely closed libraries and next to no Athletic programs or Art programs, let alone extracurricular activities.

In response to this very real crisis, March4Education organized an 8-day march from Richmond to Sacramento, which included community members, parents, teachers and students during spring break vacation. One of their slogans read “No Vacation for Education,” and they persisted with the hopes of meeting with Governor Arnold Swarzenegger, urging him to listen to the children of Richmond and respond to demands of revitalizing and restructuring funding for public education in California. History, however, repeated itself as the marchers would only be greeted by a cold indifference the administration of the “People’s Governor” has used towards the people they represent and by very few assembly members who opened up their conference room to provide temporary relief from miles of marching in the sun. At that moment it became clear that more drastic tactics were needed to be more effective in representing the urgency of this issue.

Discussions and organizational meetings then began to consider the idea of a Fast, implementing the pressure of a hunger strike with demands (the actual demands can be accessed at http://www.fast4education.org), coupled with the spiritual offering and profound statement made by a non-violent symbolic fast. March4Education then began preparation for the fast which made its first controversial decision by choosing Frank Ogawa Plaza (in downtown Oakland) as their starting point in order to increase visibility and Bay Area-wide supporter access to BART and other methods of transportation. At 12am, on may 10th, 2004, Gabriel Hernandez, David Johnson, Thomas Prather, Wendy Gonzalez, Karina Oliva, Fred Jackson, Jessica Vasquez, Cesar Cruz and Israel Haros-Lopez began their fast4education. Though initially greeted by city and police officials who confiscated their tarp and awning and threatened them with arrest, they remained and were accompanied by a group of fifteen supporters their first night before they packed up to sleep in a downtown office. They returned and this process became a daily ritual.
Photos from Sacramento: Day 11 | Day 24
For More Pictures see Fast 4 Education's website or previous coverage of the Fast 4 Education in Indybay's archives