Parents to Hold Bubble-Blowing Rally at Old Mill School

Parents and supporters have to express their opposition to education cuts in the state budget.

On Thursday at 8:05 a.m., Courtney Murphy and a group of parents and students at will be doing so in the form of lots and lots of soap bubbles.

Murphy has connected with Educate Our State, a 3-year-old nonprofit organization that has organized a "This Budget Blows" in opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans to link education funding to the success of a series of tax measures that will be on the ballot in November.

“The message to our state legislators is, ‘Don’t blow it - pass a budget that fully funds education now,” said Murphy, who will be there with her three children, along with a bubble machine to attract attention.

Educate Our State was founded by a group of San Francisco moms in 2009. In 2011, they organized a number of events and campaigns to raise awareness about the impact of the state budget crisis on public education.

The “This Budget Blows” event is timed with the notorious Pink Slip Day, when teachers in some districts receive lay-off notices. For instance, the Novato School District board voted late last month to lay off as many as 25 teachers, and several of them .

Murphy noted that Brown’s proposed budget is dependent upon an initiative passing nearly two months after the 2012-2013 school year begins. With school districts going into the next school year with daunting budget deficits, massive cuts could be on the way, she said.

In Mill Valley, district officials have been in negotiations with its teachers and employee unions for the past four months over potential reductions, but nothing specific has been announced yet in terms of potential layoffs. In updating the school board on the district's , Superintendent Paul Johnson said Wednesday night that the district plans to add as many as 12 new teacher positions next year to accommodate continued enrollment growth.

The 411: Parents and students will blow soap bubbles and hand out flyers outside Old Mill School at 352 Throckmorton Ave. from 8:05 a.m. to 8:25 a.m. For more info on Educate Our State, go to its website, its Facebook page or follow them on Twitter at #thisbudgetblows.