Dan Machalik

The closure of Madison, WI public schools is just one of thousands of other “national shutdown” actions across the U.S. on May 1 protesting the Trump administration’s policies. Wisconsin’s largest immigrant advocacy organization and coalition groups will be hosting “Day Without Immigrants” rallies and marches in Madison and Milwaukee. The Madison Metropolitan School District joins at least nine school districts in North Carolina that have cancelled classes on May Day after the North Carolina Association of Educators called for a “Kids Over Corporations” action in Raleigh to demand increased funding for public schools and an end to corporate tax cuts that deprioritize student success and wellbeing. According to a statement from Madison Teachers, Inc., the union representing more than 2,500 area educational workers, “By choosing to march with our students and community instead of going to work, the members of MTI are aligning with Voces de la Frontera’s demands and our immigrant communities, while calling attention to the state’s failure to live up to its obligations to Wisconsin’s public-school students."