Parents joined together in a protest from the Bronx to Yonkers Saturday over a possible 20% cut in state aid for public schools.

They rallied from Speaker Carl Heastie's office in Pelham Gardens to state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins' office in Yonkers over the potential loss of $5 billion in education funding.

New York City would see $2 billion cut and 9,000 teaching positions lost if the cuts were enacted.

Protesters say losing teachers means more students in classrooms, which makes it harder for remaining teachers to accommodate them – especially in high-need neighborhoods.

"We need Speaker Carl Heastie to stand up and protect our schools from these devastating cuts,” says Jasmine Gripper, the executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “We need him to tax the ultra-rich so that we can fully fund our schools in this pandemic. We do not need to balance the budget on the backs of Black, brown and low-income children in our public schools."

The teachers at the rally say many schools couldn't afford tablets and laptops students need for remote learning and cuts would contribute to a larger lack of resources.