Teachers protest in San Diego

SAN DIEGO--Teachers in San Diego County gathered on freeway overpasses to hold signs in defense of education at rush hour on March 13--or "Pink Friday"--as part of statewide protests against layoff notices sent to education workers around the state.

Passersby honked in support of teachers. "Half our staff has been pink-slipped," said Natalie Priester, who teaches at the internationally recognized San Pasqual Academy for foster children. "Our kids are there because they need stability, and they're ripping us away from them."

"Most of the cuts statewide are in education," said Eleanor Evans, a GATE [Gifted and Talented Education], drama and world history teacher at Taft Middle School. "California is the seventh-richest entity in the world, but we're 47th [among U.S. states] in school funding."

A teacher at Sarah Anthony Juvenile Hall said, "Some of the newest, and thus the best trained and most qualified in NCLB [No Child Left Behind] compliance and using technology, are the ones most likely to be let go."