Hundreds of Philadelphia students sent out an SOS of a different kind Tuesday afternoon. They marched through the city, letting their voices be heard, chanting “SOS” which stands for “save our schools.”

The Philadelphia School District recently proposed budget cuts for next school year that would cut all clubs, sports, music programs and lay off several counselors and teachers.

“The budget cuts hurt us,” said one student. “It hurts our sports and scholarship opportunities. We can’t expect to do better if we have everything taken away from us.”

When word of the proposal spread, students at several schools within the district decided to take action. The students organized a rally, using the hashtag #SOS on Twitter.

“We’re trying to get them to know that we care about education as urban city kids,” said Deion Jordan, the student body president of Constitution High School, one of the schools participating in the protest.

Over 300 students marched peacefully on Broad Street Tuesday afternoon, eventually gathering outside the school district headquarters on the 400 block of North Broad Street. They carried signs, chanted, cheered and sent out an important message; they would not be ignored.

“We’re not a number,” said one student. “We’re actually people. We’re students and we want to be heard. Our voice has to be heard.”

“This is our cry!” said another student. “We care about education. We value arts and we need it. This is our life. Don’t take it away from us because we’re passionate about it.”

