Teachers around the country decided to ditch classes and force students out of school on Friday for May Day protests instead of teaching their students. Some locations also saw teachers, government officials, and activists encouraging students to join in the protests against Trump, ICE, and other policies. 

Thousands of teachers were seen gathering in Raleigh, North Carolina for their “May Day” protest, which they called the “Kids Over Corporations” rally. The rally with the teachers is part of a wider number of “May Day” protests throughout the country, where activists are making a number of demands such as shutting down ICE and stopping “corporate greed.”

There are over 3,500 May Day events taking place around the nation, per the Guardian. Organizers have called for “no school, no work, and no shopping” around the nation.

Over 20 North Carolina school districts canceled their classes in response to so many teachers requesting to have the day off to go to the “Kids Over Corporations” rally. Ironically, the teachers were leaving behind kids in their classrooms to pursue their rally which claimed to put kids first.

In a post to students and families, Asheville City Schools announced on April 20, “Asheville City Schools will need to implement an optional teacher workday on Friday, May 1, due to the significant number of staff members who have requested personal or unpaid leave to attend the Kids Over Corporations rally in Raleigh.”

“The school system cannot provide adequate supervision of students due to the volume of leave requests that have been submitted. I reviewed various options in lieu of closing schools. With such a high number of staff out of the building on a single day, ensuring we can appropriately monitor students becomes exceedingly challenging,” the school district said in a post.

In Chicago, students were encouraged to take a “field trip” to one of the May Day protests.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also praised students for skipping class to go to the May Day rallies.

In another demonstration, activists shut down the entrance of the New York Stock Exchange in the Big Apple. The activists were seen hitting an Amazon logo pinata and holding signs complaining about capitalism.

LA May Day protesters were yelling, “We want citizenship now.” Other agitators around the country also demanded that ICE be shut down and protested against the immigration policies of the Trump administration.