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Jan 15, 2022 - Health

Students across U.S. walkout of classes to demand safer COVID protocols

Kierra Frazier
Public school students protest outside of the Chicago Public Schools headquarters after walking out of their classrooms on January 14, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.

Public school students protest outside of the Chicago Public Schools headquarters after walking out of their classrooms on Jan. 14 in Chicago. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Students in Boston and Chicago walked out of classes on Friday in protest, demanding a return to remote learning as the Omicron variant surges across the country.

Driving the news: The walkouts come two days after 340,000 Chicago students returned to the classroom after a five-day work stoppage due to the Chicago Teachers Union asking for tougher COVID-19 restrictions.

The big picture: Students in Chicago said they were "dissatisfied with the additional health protocols" that the CTU and Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreed to, Reuters reports.

  • Nearly 600 students from 11 Boston schools walked out of classes on Friday, per Reuters.
  • Students in New York City and Michigan walked out of classes earlier this week to protest inadequate COVID-19 safety protocols and demanded remote learning across the school district.
  • Students in Oakland, California, announced earlier this week that they were prepared to go on strike if the school district didn't start to provide KN95 face masks, increased COVID-19 testing and more.
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