On Wednesday, March 5, 2003, students at thousands of schools
across the United States walked out in protest of the American
government's priorities. President George W. Bush had placed
over 250,000 troops in the Middle East prepared to start a war
against Iraq. Meanwhile, school districts across the nation made
plans to lay off teachers and cut programs for the next year
because funding for education kept dwindling. Most of all, the
students felt betrayed and ignored by the policy that war — even
an unpopular conflict of questionable just cause — took
precedence over their education. The mass protests called for a
reallocation of funds from the military to the education system.
Thus the rallying cry: Books Not Bombs! Organizers at the
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition estimated 400-500
high school and college campuses participated, with total
numbers from 30,000-50,000 youth. In many cases, teachers and
administration threatened protesters with truancy charges and
suspension. Obviously, many thousan