Guilford County Schools Joins List of Teacher Walkouts May 16

Guilford County Schools has announced that enough teachers plan on joining a statewide teacher walkout that classes will be cancelled on May 16.

“Despite our efforts throughout the weekend to find enough substitutes, including redeploying central office personnel, we've reached a tipping point where we won't have enough teachers in place to operate schools safely or to ensure a high-quality instructional day for students,” said Superintendent Sharon L. Contreras.

GCS has about 1,000 substitutes in its system. The number of teachers taking leave for the march has reached 2,000.

Guilford joins other North Carolina districts, including the state's largest, Wake County, in shutting down for one day next week, allowing up to 10,000 teachers to attend a rally demanding better working conditions and education funding.

The Wake County Public School System said Monday it will be closed on May 16, the same day state lawmakers open their annual session. About a quarter of the teachers employed in and around the state's capital city asked for the day off to participate in the rally. The district's 160,000 students won't make up the class time.

The rally is being organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators. Their members are unhappy with the Republican-controlled legislature's decisions on teacher salaries and school funding.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have canceled classes on the protest day. Durham County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools will also close.