Mascots, school leaders march for investments

Orange County education leaders will team up with an unlikely band of misfits to protest education cuts in Sacramento this week.

UCI Chancellor Michael V. Drake, Cal State Fullerton President Milton A. Gordon and other leaders will march the steps of the California State Capitol Building at 11 a.m. Thursday, armed with the support of Peter the Anteater, Tuffy the Titan and other local college mascots.

While the event is somewhat in jest, the arguments the education leaders will make are serious.

With the budget crunch in California hitting schools hard, Drake and company will be there to make a point that an investment in schools is an investment in the California’s economy.

For every dollar the state invests in a student’s higher education, the state’s economy receives $3 in net return, according to a UCI news release.

— Daniel Tedford