On Friday, people passionate about the education system gathered in Swift Current for the Save our Schools rally.

The rally is in response to Bill 63, which was passed in Saskatchewan Legislature last Thursday.

The bill allows the Ministry of Education more power that originally belonged to school board trustees, including decisions to where funding cuts would go.

Chris Mulhall spoke at the rally. He is concerned with school board trustees receiving undue criticism

"What they're doing now, is they've stripped away the right to fund and the rights to make the major decisions from our school boards," he said. "They've made our school boards the buffer for all insult and anger that's going to come back over these cuts."

Also included in Bill 63 are the power for the Ministry do decide salary structures and administration of school boards.

Mulhall says those in Government don't realize that a rural area, such as the Southwest, has different needs than city schools.

"We have special requirements that city schools don't need," he said. "They're not far-flung like Consul or Fox Valley, which is representative of what's so important about small-town Saskatchewan; it's all about community. We have to send a message that it's not horrible that you made the mistake, but the way you fix that is to admit it. Admit the mistake, return funding back to our Children. It's the right thing to do."

Bill 63 was originally introduced in April. It has since undergone a series of amendments, including preserving most of the responsibilities of elected school boards.