UNION CITY — New Haven Teachers Association President Charmaine Kawaguchi was arrested on suspicion of trespassing in a public building Monday night during a rally at the state Capitol in Sacramento.
Kawaguchi was among 65 protesters who rallied in the rotunda for two hours after the building closed, prompting the arrests between 7 and 8:30 p.m. She spent the night in Sacramento County Jail and was released a little before 5 a.m., she said.
“I would absolutely do it again, because we have to change the conversation in the state,” she said.
“I’ll put my neck on the line every time to help our children.”
Hundreds of teachers from around the state took part in the march to the Capitol on Monday in hopes of meeting with lawmakers and staging sit-ins. It was a kickoff to the California Teachers Association’s “State of Emergency” campaign, a week of action including demonstrations and teach-ins throughout California as schools face mass layoffs and program cuts.
“I hope we’ll see an upwelling of support reaching a crescendo by Friday with five statewide rallies,” Kawaguchi said.
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to hold a special election to extend state taxes to help close the remainder of what had been a $26.6 billion budget deficit, but he has been unable to get GOP support to put the measure before voters.
With those extensions, schools would lose $19 per student; without them, they would lose $349. If lawmakers proceed with an all-cuts budget, they would lose $764.
“That’s the crux of why I was in Sacramento,” Kawaguchi said. “We’re trying to prevent scenario 2 and definitely scenario 3.”
Kawaguchi, who had never been arrested before, said her hands were cuffed behind her back for four hours as they waited to be processed. She and the other arrested protesters will appear in court next month.
“It was really a long, kind of surreal night,” she said.
