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2w ago

Madison Schools Cancel Classes as Teachers Join May Day Immigration Action

The district cited expected staffing shortages that it said would make schools unsafe to operate.

Thousands rallied at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on May 1, 2019, to advocate for driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status. The Day without Latinxs and Immigrants rally and strike was organized by Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights organization. Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Watch
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Overview

  • Madison Metropolitan School District said roughly 70% of Madison Teachers Inc. members planned to walk out for May Day’s immigration-rights events, prompting a districtwide closure and the suspension of after-school programs.
  • Officials said students still meet state instructional-time rules and the day will count as a single-day emergency closure with no makeup required for families.
  • Voces de la Frontera organized marches in Madison and Milwaukee that call for ending a program that lets local police act as immigration agents and for removing ICE from courts, schools, and communities.
  • Responses varied nationwide, with at least nine North Carolina districts canceling classes while Chicago kept schools open and arranged buses so some students could attend pro-labor rallies.
  • Madison last shut down for staff protest action in 2011 during demonstrations over Act 10, providing a local precedent for closing when staffing falls too low to run schools safely.