Chicago high schoolers stage study-in to send message to Springfield

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Bearing books and band instruments and wearing sports uniforms, more than 250 Chicago high school students on Monday afternoon protested sweeping cuts to public education by … studying.

In Chicago's Daley Plaza, a group of choral students rehearsed for a concert next month at Northside College Prep High School. A freshman from Walter Payton College Prep High School sketched an outline for Friday's test on medieval Europe. And two Phoenix Military Academy High School sophomores read F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."

"We wanted to show that we really do care about our schools," said Phoenix sophomore Carlos Ballesteros. "It's not just about money."

Event organizers said they hoped to send a message to state lawmakers, who returned to Springfield on Monday to try again to hammer out a state budget plan.

Using "the children" to get more money out of taxpayers.