More than 200 Hispanic students reportedly skipped class on Thursday and marched to school district headquarters while chanting "we want respect" and "si se puedes" -- "yes we can" -- the Morgan Hill Times reported.Three points:
1. I was in downtown Morgan Hill when these students passed through. There were definitely not 200 of them. I asked a few people for their crowd estimates before revealing my own. One shop owner estimated 40, another 75. (I had estimated 50 to 75. (Since I used to work for a newspaper, I've done this before.)
2. They appeared to have only gone down as far as the Community and Cultural Center. The school district office is several long blocks further down the road and their time in returning through downtown makes me highly suspicious of the claim that they reached the district office. While perhaps a few did, I'd have to say that the majority of them could not have.
3. During their initial pass through downtown, I heard no chants of "we want respect" or "si se puedes". The only chants that I heard were "Mexico! Mexico!" and "Give it back!". I heard no chanting at all on their return trip.
Walking out is a familiar tactic in the area. Note the date on this walkout.
Students Who Walked Out Face Penalties
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Mar. 28 - BCN — At least 650 students from three Santa Cruz County high schools walked out of class Monday to take part in protests over proposed restrictions on illegal immigration, according to Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Mary Anne Mays.
The students walked out of all three of the district’s comprehensive high schools. Approximately 50 students walked out of Aptos High School and approximately 300 students walked out of both Watsonville High School and Pajaro Valley High School, Mays said.
The students will be disciplined by the schools, according to Mays.
“They’re considered cutting and unless they have any discipline related to it the consequence is typically Saturday school,” Mays said.
Mays and other district officials were surprised that the students walked out of class given the large protests that took place throughout the state over the weekend.
“High school students need to be expressive,” Mays said as a possible explanation for Monday’s walkouts.