Schools across Quebec were surrounded by human chains on Tuesday morning as parents, teachers, and students protested budget cuts.

At more than 200 schools across the province, including dozens of French public schools in Montreal and at several EMSB schools, people held hands and marched around the buildings.

Demonstrators oppose the restrictions on education spending being imposed by the provincial government, saying that about $1 billion has been removed from school budgets over the past five years.

Unions say the overall budget for public schools in Quebec for 2015-2016 is $350 million lower than it was last year.

Teachers' unions say support staff has been laid off, programs for students with special needs have been eliminated, fees for PED day care have been increased.

Teacher Kathleen Usher organized Tuesday's protest at Willingdon Elementary, the second such protest at the school this year.

"Primarily the cuts we're feeling are to child care workers and our resource teachers, so those people who work most closely with children with special needs," said Usher.

"We feel very strapped in terms of the hours we can give them, the time we can invest in them and what it results in as a classroom that is stretched to the limit."

Parents say it's now affecting them.

“There’s no soap in the bathroom, there's no toilet paper in the bathroom the faucets are all broken, the hand dryer is broken,” said home and school representative David McLeod.

Phys Ed teacher Lara Belinsky said she watched in disbelief in recent years at how quickly class sizes have grown in her school.

“I feel it more in the class size department, so it's only now that I'm starting to feel that the government isn't really caring about how many kids you have in your class, they're just dumping them there and say, ‘You know what, no matter how many kids are in there you can teach and do the best that you can,’” she said.

The human chain protests -- organized by teachers and parents -- come as teachers' unions are negotiating contracts with the provincial government.

Last week several unions said they were asking their members to 'work-to-rule' and so refuse to participate in extra-curricular activities such as field trips or overseeing student council meetings.

The Quebec government has said that capping the education budget is necessary to balance the books, and it has pushed school boards to reduce administrative costs.

It is also planning to eliminate reduce the number of school boards in the province and eliminate school board elections.

Education Minister Francois Blais is expected to introduce legislation this fall that would replace all school board commissioners with people appointed by government.