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Students gather outside Mayor Walsh's office to protest gun violence, school closures

WCVB:

Dozens of students lined the hallway outside Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's office in a demonstration Monday.

The walkout is part of the national "March for Our Lives" demonstrations.

Students said they walked out of class in demonstration against gun violence and against the Boston Public School District's plan to close some facilities.

Parents and students have been requesting a moratorium on the city's planned closures at the end of this school year and next.

(WCVB TV video.)


Patch
:

Boston Students Walk Out, Stage 'Die-In' At City Hall

Boston students walked out of school Monday in an effort to protest the inequity of school closures and violence in Boston.

IMAGE(https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22926785/20181119/101932/styles/T800x600/public/processed_images/march_for_our_lives_boston_jenna_fisher-1542640376-6474.jpg?width=400)

BOSTON, MA — Parents and students walked out of public schools and hundreds marched up to the fifth floor of City Hall Monday afternoon. Students who couldn't make it to city hall demonstrated inside their own schools, in opposition to what they said were inequities of school closures and violence prevention measures in Boston.

"No Violence Prevention, proposed closing of city schools, broken meetings... it is clear that the administration is not listening to the communities it serves," according to a Facebook invitation supported by a coalition of activist groups including March Forward Mass, Black Lives Matter Boston, Teen Empowerment, Stuck On Replay and Violence in Boston Inc. "Activists need to be heard, and we will be there in support."

Students and community members filled the hall near the Boston mayor's office, sitting and holding signs.

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Comments

masslive:

Boston Public Schools students and gun violence activists will hold a walkout Monday afternoon to protest the number of people killed because of gun violence in the city and the proposed closure of two schools.

"These incidents are happening more rapidly and frequently than ever. Are you tired of hearing about meetings with empty promises? Are you frustrated from losing your loved one, your friend? Thoughts and prayers don't save lives funding does. Enough is Enough!! How much more can communities of color take?" organizers wrote on Facebook.

The walkout will start at schools across the district and end with a 43-minute "die-in" in City Hall, which represents the number of people killed with guns in Boston in 2018.

Click on the 51 in the middle to see all the photos.

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Message is lost because it's diluted by being about both issues ..

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They were also protesting homelessness.

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straight in my head--gun violence that's taken 43 lives in Boston including kids, and school closures.

What I find surprising is that what you find most problematic are not the homicides or school closures but how they organized their protest. In that group of three issues, how they organized their protest would never be at the top of my list. You probably don't have to worry about being killed on your way to school or having your school closed so Marty can reorganize schools and bid out construction contracts. I'm glad they're doing buildbps I just think they could do it without breaking entire school communities that by all accounts work well.

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Schools are communities. Sometimes a school community is the one consistent, stable support a student has. When we rip communities apart with no regard for those affected, we tell them we don't care about them.

Supportive and stable communities keep kids out of trouble and help them thrive. Tearing them apart does the opposite.

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3 proposed school closings out of 125 schools.
These schools are acting as "community" for a few kids, but you'll never hear from the ones who hate it there, who get bullied, can't learn because of the behavioral problems all around them, who move on or drop out. And hardly any teachers are speaking out. They know well what a sh**show these schools are and have union protections to have some choice in their next assignment.
I went to a suburban district and several schools closed, no process at all. Population decreased so they close some schools and have more $ for the schools that remain.
Activists are basically saying "everything about BPS is the result of systemic racism" and yet "nothing about BPS can change." It's nuts.

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WREC is because BPS kicked the can down the road for too long that the building is *supposedly* unsafe. But fine. Plan for it. Find a place for kids to finish their high school years *together*.

McCormick is only closing because they want to repurpose the building for 7-12 and need to start somewhere.

The point is the plan wasn’t thought out, and the implications for the kids currently at these schools were ignored.

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What they should be protesting is the appointed school committee. Without an elected school committee there is nobody to blame for BPS woes. And please don't say blame the mayor.

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Do you think controls and perpetuates the appointed school committee? The City Council could vote on it today and it would die on the Mayor's desk.

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The appointed school committee is basically made up of education experts, mostly people of color.
An elected committee would produce all kinds of grandstanding nonsense, including members from white neighborhoods elected on "neighborhood school" platforms that are totally unachievable.

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The last elected school committee was just the AAA farm club for the city council, full of postiring and otherwise worthless. If you can somehow limit school committee candidates to those actually interested in the schools, go for it; otherwise this is the lesser of evils.

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Just be sure to never help Police solve any crimes in your neighborhoods, don't ever mention you know names of people selling drugs, never tell the truth just let criminals continue to disrespect where you live......Reality..how much does Boston ( taxpayers) spend per student each year ??

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