Expressing fears for the future of public education, about three parents, students and teachers boarded a D.C.-bound bus about 8 a.m. at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard, outside the visitor center at Love Park.
Corbett's budget "is a sure-fire way to send the city back into more poverty," said former city middle school teacher, Lisa Haver, 55.
"Education is a human right, and this is an assault on public education," said Azeem Hill, 17, a student at West Philadelphia High.
Senate Bill 1, expected to come up for a vote soon, would "strip money from public schools," diverting hundreds of millions of dollars away from already hard-hit districts statewide, said Marc Stier, head of Penn Action, the group behind the protest.
Parent Tim Brown, waiting for the bus to D.C., said he saw vouchers as "cynical maneuvering" by "right-wing billionaires," who want to privatize all education in America.
"If they're complaining there's a budget problem, why are they turning around and subsidizing private schools?" he asked.
The American Federation for Children was founded and funded by conservatives "ideologically opposed to public education," said a Penn Action news release.
Evidence of the conference's conservative slant is that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker - "the most anti-public sector, most anti-worker governor" - also will be a speaker, Stier said.
Many of the Washington protesters directed criticisms at Walker.
One D.C. sign, though, said "Keep Wisconsin Out of Pennsylvania."
Contact the Inquirer Online News Desk at online@phillynews.com or 215-854-2443.Follow the Inquirer at www.Twitter.com/PhillyInquirer and www.Facebook.com/PhillyInquirer
