“Immigrants built America.” “ICE melts under resistance.” These are just a fraction of the messages displayed on students’ signs as they marched out of their classrooms on Friday, protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Education leaders have mixed feelings about the activism.
“Students have the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but it should be done after school hours,” Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne said in a statement on Thursday before the walkouts. “Teachers and other school personnel should not be a part of a protest during class time.”
Still, Arizona colleges and school districts are coordinating with local law enforcement to ensure students are safe during their planned demonstrations, AZFamily reports. But education leaders express concerns regarding the loss of instructional time.
“Teachers and educators and kids can’t learn if they’re not in school,” Arizona School Administrators Executive Director Paul Tighe told the news outlet. “We could encourage other means of accomplishing similar objectives, maybe protest outside of the school day.”
The walkouts were organized through National Shutdown, a website organized by activists who called for “a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping. Vote NO to ICE funding.”
The website condemns the Trump administration for its handling of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. “It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough,” the website reads.
A couple of hundred students in Park City, Utah, gathered around 8:30 a.m. in sub-freezing temperatures, chanting, “Hey ho, hey ho, Donald Trump has to go,” and “Hey ho, hey ho, fascism has got to go,” according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Student protestors held Mexican and American flags, as well as handmade signs, including one that read, “ICE is better crushed.”
In Georgia’s metro Atlanta, students got a head start, participating in demonstrations as early as Tuesday, according to CBS News. School officials warned that while activism is important, missing school will come with consequences.
“While we respect the right of students to express their views in a non-disruptive way, students are expected to be in class and engaged in learning throughout the school day,” the Cobb County School District said in a statement.
The district added that students could receive out-of-school suspension and lose parking, sports or extracurricular privileges.
Activism has quickly become an issue that superintendents must handle with integrity and compassion.
For advice on what the superintendent’s role in advocacy looks like, consider reading this article from Pflugerville Independent School District Superintendent Quintin Shepherd, a regular contributor to District Administration. It outlines steps leaders can take to bridge the passion of their community with the school board’s governance and responsibilities.
