CHAPEL HILL – UNC students, joined by others from colleges across the state, are rallying to improve education at a local, state, and national level.

The Students for Education Reform (SFER) is happening this Saturday in Raleigh at the Halifax Mall from 2- 5 p.m.

“We are a group of undergraduates that want to generate an honest conversation around education in North Carolina. We want to hear from students, teachers and stakeholders in education. We want to call for great teachers for future leaders,” said Jon Hebert of the UNC SFER.

Hebert says the group’s goal is to mobilize the next generation of well-informed student leaders who can positively impact education reform.

“It really important to us that all of our kids in the state have access to an excellent teacher,” Hebert said. “We’re very solutions oriented and we want to open that dialogue.”

There are four chapter of the SFER in North Carolina: UNC, Duke, Wake Forest and East Carolina. All will congregate in Raleigh Saturday.

Currently reforms are being deliberated in the state legislature on topics like tenure reduction for high school teachers and proposed restructuring to how charter schools are run.

Released in March, Governor McCrory’s proposed budget has also caused a stir in the education community. It’s estimated about 1,800 full-time teachers will be hired over the next two years. However, the trade-off is cutting teaching assistants.

That’s why Herbert says now is the time to speak-out.

“We’re all coming to this central location to say, ‘Hey, we’re watching and we are interested, and we have a stake in what goes on here in Raleigh.”

Enloe High School’s Lauren Brooks, the Wake County Teacher of the Year, will speak at the rally. There will also be a DJ, a poetry reading, and a performance by the The Hobbs Sisters of Wake Forest University.