About 1,000 people rallied outside the University of Michigan stadium, where Governor Rick Snyder was giving the commencement speech to graduating seniors.
Teachers, nurses and other union members carried signs that said “Some Cuts Never Heal” and “Shame on Snyder.” One union official got a huge cheer from the crowd when he compared the workers to David and Snyder to Goliath.
Ellen Stone teaches special education in the Ann Arbor Public Schools district. She says she hopes the Governor is listening to what they’re saying, because "we’re going to be showing up at the polls en masse," and she "the whole state is waking up to the fact that we elected the wrong guy, and that his mission is not our mission."When Stone was asked whether she would vote to recall the Governor if it was on the ballot, she said "absolutely."
Cary Kocher also teaches in the same district as Stone. He was there to protest the Governor’s proposed cuts to K-12 education, as well as the expanded powers of Emergency Financial Managers. He carried a sign that said "Depose the Ricktator!"
"I am hoping to be part of the movement to recall the governor for starters, and I’m hoping this event will be successful in calling attention to the robbery of the middle class; diverting money through the government to wealthy business owners."
Governor Snyder hopes to get his budget passed by the majority Republican legislature by the end of May.
