SPOKANE -- Hundreds, possibly thousands, of students plan to walk out of class at colleges and universities across Washington state Thursday.
The financial crisis delivered quite a blow to colleges and universities last year. Here in the Inland Northwest, Eastern Washington University alone reports losing $5 million.
All the money lost led to hiring freezes and other set backs at the school. And, now even more cuts are proposed, which students say could lead to more staffing cuts and larger classroom sizes.
So, EWU students, and even some staff members, are saying it's time to send a message to Olympia. They're planning a rally to protest tuition increases and other budget cuts from noon until 2:00 p.m.
And the Eastern Washington students aren't alone. Students at Washington State University and University of Washington are planning similar events.
The students tell us if they can get together an organized protest against budget cuts, they can show lawmakers they're not meeting the needs of many of the state's citizens.
