As rain poured down on Broad Street yesterday, students from three Philadelphia schools marched from City Hall to the Bellevue where Governor Tom Corbett's Philadelphia office to demand funding restoration for Pennsylvania schools after another round of crippling budget cuts.

Representing Central High School, Kensington CAPA High School and the Science Leadership Academy, dozens of students gathered outside City Hall, holding signs that advocated for a 1 percent sales tax to sustainably fund schools and the immediate commitment from City Council to provide $195 million in recurring funding. The students then moved their rally to the state level, standing outside the building that houses the governor's office and demanding restoration of funds that had been cut from education over the past several years.

Last year's multi-million dollar shortfall reduced schools to "empty shells," as Superintendent William Hite put it. The district laid off thousands of teachers, nurses, counselors, administrators, advisors and librarians as well as music, art, science and athletic programs. This year, another $440 million budget shortfall could cause the district to lay off another 1,000 employees if some funding is not restored.

Kensington CAPA is one of those schools that lost essential staff. Students said that fewer teachers to instruct required classes, like history and language, causes some students to worry about having all the credits needed to graduate on time. Others pay to take language classes outside the school in the absence of language teachers.

Gregory Coleman, a 12th-grader at CAPA, said that he participated in sports and other activities during his four years at the school.

"We had teachers who were able to organize them and make sure that we had things we needed to graduate or things that would help us on our college resumes," he said. As teachers are cut, he explained, that's changing. Students can not even turn to counselors. Where there used to be three, CAPA now has one counselor to address the issues and questions of more than 800 students.

"I'm a creative writing major. We don't even need much. We need some paper, ink, and we don't even have that at our school," Coleman said. "Our principal, our teachers, everyone is trying their best. But with such limited funding, a major that requires so little can't even get everything they need."

Protestors at a similar march last week carried a coffin down Broad Street, emphasizing that funding shortages may be more than damaging to students' futures — they could be fatal. Earlier this week, a first-grade student died after passing out at Jackson Elementary School in South Philadelphia. A trained adult gave the boy CPR because no full-time nurse was present due to funding shortages. A sixth-grade students' death last year also left many to wonder if, had a school nurse been present, her asthma attack would have been recognized and treated.