Youth Empowered In The Struggle

@wi_yes students from over a dozen schools across several districts have taken to the streets of Milwaukee for a Student Strike Day of Action in support of several demands: - ICE Out for Good - MPS Workers Getting a Full Cost of Living Adjustment on July 1 and Reversing Harmful Cuts to Frontline Workers - End U.S. Imperialism - No More Student or Teacher Retaliation - Liberation For All #StudentPower #CutContractsNotClassrooms

ARE YOU READY FOR @wi_yes FREEDOM SCHOOL?!? Apply Today 🦋🔥🗺️ 6 sessions, ending with a retreat in Madison. Starting July 8 and ending Aug 12. What is Freedom School? Come together to build real skills and real power. Over the 6 week session, we’ll dig into the issues that shape our lives and our communities — racism, education justice, immigrant rights, and more. You’ll walk away with: 📣Skills in public speaking and how to move people with your words 🧰 Tools for community organizing and building collective power ✈️Experience in activism and advocacy that you can carry into your school and beyond 🪔A deeper understanding of the struggles our communities face — and how we fight back 🕸️A tight-knit crew of fellow student leaders who have your back 🫟Once you apply, You will receive a full schedule with locations and addresses as well as carpool information. 📜All participants will receive a certificate upon successful completion of the program. About YES Freedom School is a program of Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), the youth arm of @vocesdelafronterawi . Since 2003, YES has been a nationally recognized force for multiracial youth organizing. From the fight for the DREAM Act, to protecting immigrant students in our schools, to defending teachers and public education — YES student leaders have always been on the front lines. This summer, that tradition continues with you.

This Tuesday, May 12th, the MPS Board will hold its statutory required public hearing on the proposed annual budget. Board President Missy Zombor will chair this meeting, which will begin at 5:30pm. This meeting is dedicated to hearing testimony from the public about its concerns and priorities for the MPS budget. There will not be any discussion by the administration or board members. This is an important opportunity for MTEA workers, MPS families, students and the public to give testimony on budget priorities. RSVP in our bio... At the Thursday, May 7 SPB committee meeting, there was a big community turnout that showed resounding support for frontline MTEA workers and our students. MTEA members and the community delivered moving and insightful testimony about MPS Administration's deep and dangerous cuts to students at MPS alternative high schools, the necessity of IB Coordinators, the Superintendent's bait and switch on class size and the long-term harm this administration and board will do to students and the retention and recruitment of frontline workers if they fail to provide workers with a full 2.63% COLA on July 1. Throughout our bargaining sessions with MPS Administration, MTEA called on MPS to find the additional funding necessary to provide MTEA members with a full COLA on July 1 by cutting contracts. MPS insisted that they could only find $5-10 million in contracts and that they had a $46 million budget gap. Then this week in her budget announcement, the Superintendent suddenly declared she had discovered $46 million in contract cuts, erasing the deficit yet leaving workers with less than full cost of living adjustments on July 1 for no reason. MPS could have afforded full COLA July 1; they still can, and they knew it all along. All it takes is for five members of the school board to direct the Superintendent to provide full COLA on July 1 for all frontline workers... Continue in comments...

Album 2: No Work! No School! No Shopping! Photos from today's massive Milwaukee #MayDay march where thousands hit the streets in support of immigrant, student, and working class power! @vocesdelafronterawi #ICEfreeMKE

Album 1: No Work! No School! No Shopping! Photos from today's massive Milwaukee #MayDay march where thousands hit the streets in support of immigrant, student, and working class power! @vocesdelafronterawi #ICEfreeMKE

No Work! No School! No Shopping! Thousands hit the streets of Milwaukee today in support of immigrant, student, and working class power! @vocesdelafronterawi #MayDay #ICEfreeMKE

We won't let Trump take us down the path of fascism. Milwaukee #MayDay march for immigrants, students, and the working-class. @vocesdelafronterawi #ICEfreeMKE

Milwaukee standing up on International Workers Day! Milwaukee is pro-worker and pro-immigrant! #milwaukee #mayday #immigrants #workingclass #freepalestine🇵🇸

Students from a variety of schools, districts, and cities share why they showed up to the 4/24 Student Strike Day of Action, and how they feel about what is going on in the world and our response to it. #studentstrikedayofaction #studentpower #protests #milwaukee

Last Friday, over 70 Golda students joined hundreds of other students across the state in a student strike and march for and end to ICE, imperialism, student/teacher retaliation, and for funding for all schools. #studentstrikedayofaction

YES College Member Highlight: Mauricio Rebollar-López✊🏽 Mauricio, a senior at Carthage College and proud student from Waukesha, is turning his senior thesis into a powerful act of resistance. His project, “Oh America the Great”, dives deep into the realities of immigration, identity, and the lived experiences of communities impacted by policy decisions. At a time when Kenosha has signed onto a 287(g) agreement, his work speaks volumes capturing how these policies shape fear, belonging, and resilience. Through art rooted in his own story, Mauricio is pushing us to reflect, engage, and take action. This is what it means to lead with purpose.

Album 2/2: "No More Contracts! No More Greed! Give Our Students What They Need!" Photos from last Thursday's Mass Central Office Picket where hundreds of MPS frontline workers, students, parents, and community supporters descended on Milwaukee Public Schools Central Office Thursday to push together for a district budget that prioritizes students and frontline student-facing workers over high dollar Central Office bosses and private contracts. Last week we learned nearly 600 paraprofessionals are having their hours slashed up to 25%! That's on top of counselors, art teachers, music teachers, and Children's Health Assistants (CHAs), Assistant Principals (APs) also being stripped from schools. Our schools are already operating without enough adults in the building and this will surely strike our students the hardest but we refuse to accept it! Stand with us! Sign our petition in support of frontline workers and the students they service.