Students stage walkouts in protest of gun violence
School walkouts mark one month since the mass shooting at Parkland high school. Phil Keating reports from Parkland, Florida.
The Chicago Republican Party has filed a complaint with Chicago Public Schools and is considering suing over an anti-gun violence student walkout Wednesday morning it calls “political” and an “indoctrination.”
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson has publicly given her approval and support for the district-wide walkout, which a Chicago GOP Chairman says has turned into an administration-organized event not a “student walkout.”
Chris Cleveland, chairman of the Chicago GOP, pointed to an email sent by an elementary school principal that gave parents of young students instructions on the walkout and the option of making posters.
Students across the country were holding a walkout on Wednesday to protest gun violence and to call for gun control measures on the one-month anniversary of the Parkland school shooting that left 17 people dead.
The GOP chairman said the school district seemed to be coercing students to take part in the demonstrations.
“It's appalling that 10 to 14 year old kids would be coerced, by their teachers, to participate in a political demonstration," Cleveland wrote in a statement. “A 10-year-old kid isn't going to have an informed opinion on these political matters, and shouldn't be expected to have the fortitude to hold a different opinion from everyone else in his or her classroom. This is political indoctrination, pure and simple."
Students across the country were holding a walkout on Wednesday to protest gun violence and to call for gun control measures on the one-month anniversary of the Parkland school shooting that left 17 people dead. (REUTERS)
CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler told Fox News the district received the complaint and is evaluating it.
The Chicago Public Schools and the CEO’s office have not returned calls from Fox News seeking comment.
Last year, more than 650 people were murdered in Chicago. In 2016, nearly 800 were killed, many of whom were teens, some under the age of 12. A CPS spokesperson said they could not recall a district condoned walkout for the city’s own gun violence and homicide rate.
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