Student walkouts continue in Houston area amid TEA, Abbott warnings
Anti-ICE student walkouts continue in Houston
Houston-area students have continued protests against federal immigration operations. FOX 26's Angie Rodriguez was present during a walkout with Aldine ISD students.
HOUSTON - Houston-area students have been hosting their own walkouts this week to protest against federal immigration operations.
Houston student walkouts
Local perspective:
Campuses from multiple Houston school districts walked off their campuses protesting federal immigration authorities, mostly against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE.
Many students held signs with statements such as, "We're skipping our less to teach you one," or "No human is illegal on stolen land."
Others carried flags representing different countries.
Multiple students told FOX 26 that they felt the need to speak out against the immigration crackdown, especially following the related incidents in Minnesota.
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Protest pushback from Texas officials
Big picture view:
With student protests happening around the state, the Texas Education Agency is warning teachers and school districts about the consequences of actions related to political activism.
The TEA outlined some of the ramifications of anti-ICE walkouts in schools:
- Students must be marked as absent and schools risk losing daily attendance funding if they allow or encourage students to walk out of class.
- Teachers that facilitate walk-outs will be subject to investigation and sanction including licensure revocation.
- School systems that facilitate walkouts will be subject to investigation and sanction, including either the appointment of a monitor, conservator or board of managers.
FULL REPORT: TEA warns teachers, districts of consequences to demonstrations
Gov. Greg Abbott has also been threatening consequences for Texas schools regarding the protests, including a threat to strip funding.
Gov. Abbott has also called for an investigation into Austin ISD because of student-led protests.
The Source: Information in this report comes from Houston student walkouts and previous FOX reports.