On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, MCEA is participating in a National Day of Action with its parent affiliates, the Maryland State Education Association and National Education Association.
Educators, students, parents, and our allies are sharing messages of unity to defend public education by organizing school walk-ins across Montgomery County, Maryland, and the country. We believe our shared action will remind elected leaders at the local, state, and national levels that we will protect our students and public schools.
- What’s a school walk-in? During school walk-ins, parents, educators, students, neighbors, and community leaders gather in front of their school 10-15 minutes before the school day begins. We rally and listen to a few speakers discuss what they want for the school, then walk into the school together.
- What do I wear? Red! For Ed!
- Who can participate? Anyone!
ORGANIZING AND COORDINATING YOUR SCHOOL WALK-IN
1. Recruit Colleagues, Parents, and Allies to Participate. Walk-ins don’t all need to look the same. Your walk-in could be made up of ten, twenty…or hundred people – or somewhere in between.
- Invite your colleagues by having 1-1 conversations and/or holding a union meeting.
- Track your commitments by using a Google form or commitment sheet.
- Invite parents and students that you know to the rally.
What’s important is that you walk in at the same time, wearing red, and sharing a sense of solidarity and pride in being together to protect public education. We’re stronger together.
2. Select a Time and Campus Location. You’ll want to confirm the meeting location and time for participants to gather. We recommend meeting 10-15 minutes before your walk-in begins.
3. Send Reminders. Email, text, or better yet – remind folks in person that the action is taking place 1-2 days before it happens. Having a one-on-one conversation to remind folks is also a way to get them excited about the walk-in.
4. (Pre-Walk-In) Take a Group Selfie or Group Photo. Before walking into your worksite, take a group selfie or photo. Once you’re inside, we know it’s easy to head to your classrooms, so we recommend taking that photo before the walk in. Send that selfie to [email protected].
5. (Pre-Walk In) Post on Social Media. Post your photo(s) on social media with the hashtags: #ProtectStudents #ProtectFamilies
6. Say Something Pre-Walk-In. It can be a chant, a song – perhaps your school’s fight song? You could even put your hands together and do a cheer. See some ideas below!
Call and Response
Leader: “What do we want?”
Crowd: “Fully funded schools!”
Leader: “When do we want it?”
Crowd: “Now!”
Leader: “No justice!”
Crowd: “No peace!”
Leader: “Fund our schools!”
Crowd: “Increase, increase!”
Leader: “Education is a right!”
Crowd: “That is why we stand and fight!”
Song
🎶 “We stand strong, we stand tall,
For public schools that serve us all!”
🎶 “They cut our funds, we raise our voice,
For students’ futures, we make the choice!”*
🎶 “Teachers, students, side by side,
In education, we take pride!”
7. Walk-In! You took the steps before to make it happen and now you’ve taken the steps into your building for our schools, students, and for public education. We know we may need to do more, but you’ve taken a huge step for the movement.
Spread the Word!
Let your colleagues know they can start actions at their worksites. Shareable social media graphics are available to download below:
