Vancouver parents rally for "Students Before Stadiums"

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Parents at a rally near the PNE are angry the province is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the new roof for B.C. Place Stadium and renovations for Empire Field.

Tim is one of the organizers and says what galls them is the fact that the Vancouver Board of Education is short $18 million and stadiums seem to be the government's spending priority. "This is actually my first protest and this is the first time any of us have organized anything likes this...the reason is because it's something that we all feel very passionate about."

He says it's not fair for the B.C. government to point fingers at the school board, referring to the fact the province has appointed the comptroller general to go over the board's books. "That doesn't explain why school boards in Victoria, in Richmond, in Prince George, in Surrey, in Coquitlam...districts all across the province are having to make cuts."

The group started as a meeting of about 50 people last Tuesday. That grew to a gathering of  about  400 Monday morning.