HOUGHTON -- The reason behind the gathering?  The proposed Emergency Financial Manager, or E.F.M., legislation currently working its way through Lansing.

Organized by the Western U.P. Community Action Team, about 75 to 100 people turned out for the rally, including former Congressman Bart Stupak and Gary McDowell.  They worry that if E.F.M.s are installed in towns across the state, the quality of public education could suffer due to harsh budget cuts and power being taken from school boards.

And it's not only schools that they think could suffer from the potential changes.

"This isn't an attack on public education alone; it's an attack on public workers, and it's an attack on our way of life," says Terri Lajeunesse of the Michigan Education Association in Hancock.

"They're trying to get it done before people realize what's happening so they won't call their representative, call their senator, and say, stop this," adds Gary McDowell, the U.P. representative for We Are The People.  "We did not elect you to destroy public education in this state."

With future rallies planned in the U.P. and downstate, WUPCAT expects support to continue growing stronger.