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Mexico: Teachers Strike & Protest on First Day of School

HeadlineAug 23, 2016

In Mexico, teachers in the southern states of Oaxaca, Michoacán, Guerrero and Chiapas are on strike to protest Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s so-called education reforms, which seek to implement standardized testing across Mexico and weaken the power of teachers’ unions. On Monday, which was the first day of classes across Mexico, teachers in Oaxaca City instead marched through the streets. This is Juan García from Section 22, the local chapter of the teachers’ union.

Juan García: “The school calendar that we’re going to propose and which we’re designing concerns the standards of work being fulfilled with the parents of families and not from the boss. It is a commitment to our students and parents of families.”

In June, a deadly police attack on protesting teachers in Oaxaca left at least nine people dead and more than 100 wounded.

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