An informal discussion of several students of the Graduate School of Education (GSE) at the beginning of the year has snowballed into a petition drive canvassing the campus. The petition drive, centered in the lobby of the school's Gutman Library, protests alleged unfair and inadequate treatment of the school by the University.

The petition, which is directed at President Neil L. Rudenstine and the University's other schools, asks for the creation of a committee, which will include GSE students and a representative of each of Harvard's schools, to address student complaints.

The petition drive is being organized by a group at the school billing itself as the Delta Initiative, based on the Greek letter delta, a symbol for change.

This group was formed by several students discussing the state of the school and the education they were receiving there. The Initiative has a core leadership of four members and a larger committee of about a dozen GSE students.

Students said they believe GSE receives much less support than the other Harvard schools. They place the blame on the decentralized nature of Harvard's organization and funding, which means each school must independently balance their budgets with their own resources.

"We take classes at other faculties and see discrepancies," says Monica Shah, a student in the one-year masters program at GSE and one of the four key organizers of the drive. She said students notice smaller class sizes and greater professor availability at other schools.

According to the students, this systems means individual school's budgets are based largely on the giving--and thus the wealth--of their graduates.

"We feel that [the decentralized financing system] needs to change," Shah said. "It is not efficient or effective any more."