Thousands of teachers across Puerto Rico left school and protested their working conditions and wages on Friday, AP reports.
Driving the news: Schools in San Juan and other cities, including Mayaguez and Aguada, were without teachers as they took to the streets, clapping and banging on pots to demand higher wages.
More than 70% of public school teachers were absent from school on Friday, according to Puerto Rico's Department of Education, per AP. Approximately 5,000, or 25%, of teachers were absent on Thursday.
The big picture: Last month, a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances approved a fiscal plan that increases teachers' salaries by 27% compared with what they made in fiscal year 2019.
Puerto Rico’s Association of Teachers, which is requesting that base salaries increase to $3,500 a month, rejected the plan.
"Bankruptcy cannot continue to be used as an excuse," the association of teachers said, per AP.
"Teachers do not want to be rendered invisible any more nor offered any more crumbs, but rather a concrete solution that provides them with a better quality of life."
