As legislators plan to battle over the state budget this week, a group of Queens Residents are putting pressure on a local Senator. NY1's Gene Apodaca has more on why they are demanding that he vote to fully fund education. 

Dozens of parents and community members marched onto State Senator Jose Peralta’s office on Saturday and accused him of not doing enough to fund public schools. 

“He’s calls himself a democrat it’s just unconscionable, “said march organizer Honor Mosher.

The tension stems from Peralta’s affiliation with the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a breakaway coalition of 8 Democrats that have aligned themselves with Republicans to give both more power in the State Senate. 

That association is why many at the march say they fear, Peralta will back a Republican plan that calls for a smaller funding increase to the operating budget for public schools than the one proposed by Senate Democrats and the State Assembly.

“There’s no room for anything extra if you want a music room or a science room they can’t have it, “ said parent Nuala Odeherty.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Conference told us, "These rogue Democrats by empowering Trump Republicans in the Senate are shortchanging our public schools and hurting New York City. If they would join with the rest of the Democrats we could once again protect our public schools and make sure our children have the resources they so desperately need".

“Why do we have classes of 32 students?  We know it’s not right, it’s not what our students need, “ said Amanda Vender, who is with the Jackson Heights People for Public Schools.

Despite the protest, no vote has been cast on the budget yet.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Peralta said, "Senator Peralta is fighting to fully fund our schools in this year's budget due April 1st. That's the vote that matters. Senator Peralta has and always will support funding our schools and students and anything said otherwise is false."

As for the parents, they said they’ll continue to speak out until a vote is cast.

“All voices make a difference and walking through our community and sharing our voices I think can create a ripple effect and make a difference, yes,“ said parent Rebecca Mehan.