Thousands of Philadelphia high schoolers staged a walkout on Friday to fight a wave of budget cuts hitting their classrooms. The school district has proposed ending arts and sports programs as well as firing support staff like secretaries, librarians and counselors to close a $300 million funding gap. On Friday, a crowd of more than 2,000 students and teachers marched from the school district to Philadelphia City Hall, blocking traffic.

Student: “If you’re planning on cutting back sports and arts, and then you want us to be involved in our community and stay out of the streets, it’s kind of hard to do that.”

Protester: “It’s not equitable, compared to the suburbs, and these children are told the message they don’t count. And it’s tragic.”

The new funding cuts follow the Philadelphia school district’s vote to close 23 of the city’s public schools earlier this year.