Seneca students walk out to protest strike

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_532382.html

By Rick Wills
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 13, 2007

About 250 Seneca Valley students walked out of class as a group Friday to protest a teachers strike planned to start Monday.

The students from Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, which houses 9th- and 10th-graders, left the building at about 10:30 a.m. and went to the district's stadium next to the school.

"They walked down to the stadium and were peaceful and respectful," said Linda Andreassi, a district spokeswoman.

While there, the students were addressed by Superintendent Don Tylinski. The students will not be punished, Andreassi said.

"This is such a highly emotional time, and we did not think that punishment would be appropriate," she said.

Although several students expressed disappointment with the failure of the teachers and school board to reach an agreement, most were concerned with more practical matters such as due dates for various school projects.

FULL story at link.

[China_cat]

1. I just got back from there.

My sister lives about 2 miles from Seneca Valley.

The projects the students are worried about are MANDATORY projects...used to be only senior projects but now have migrated down. Without these, they can't graduate. Besides the pay issue, a lot of teachers are also protesting these projects that have nothing to do with education, have to be done on the student's own time, be approved before hand, and not interfere with the federally mandated tests. This might be a state-wide requirement but these teachers (not all of the ones planning to strike, just some of them) are hoping that making a stand will have an impact.