Hundreds of concerned teachers, parents and students gathered under the painted dome at the Capitol Rotunda chanting “6.25” at the top of their lungs.  Concerned citizens crowded the stairs and filled the marble balconies with signs, stickers and pins urging the legislators to make “no excuses” and “stand up for its school children.”

The “Stand Up For Public Education” Rally brought educators and parents together to demand more funding for the public schools.

The rally was held in order to convince the lawmakers to pass a bill proposed by Governor Gary Herbert to increase the WPU (Weighted Pupil Unit) by 6.25 percent, the basic funding unit for public education. This increase in funding could bring up to $435 million dollars.

Teacher Emily Holtkamp believes that the money would be incredibly helpful for reducing the amount of kids per classroom, an issue she believes is a major problem.

“There are too many kids in the classroom,” Holtkamp said, ” They aren’t getting the education they deserve.”

Some of Highland’s faculty were also there to support the cause, such as teachers Kyle Bracken and Sue Tice, and principal Chris Jensen.

“I think that the money should be used to get updated technology for schools” Jensen said, “I think class reduction is something we also need to work on.”

Concerned mother Mary Montgomery wants to ensure that there is enough funding for the arts and strongly believes that teacher’s salaries should be increased.

At times the sound was almost deafening, but as the rally ended there was a calm and contented atmosphere as smiling participants made their ways to their cars.