On May 1, more than 100,000 people from all over the Bay Area came to San Jose and peacefully rallied for immigrant rights. The march happened on a Monday -- a school day.
Among the mix of children, parents, immigrants and non-immigrants were many high school students who ditched school to make the event. Several other protests in March and April also fell on school days. High schools in the San Jose Unified School District saw a general decline in attendance whenever there was a rally.
While school officials don't mind students supporting the immigration debate, they don't want them to cut school for it.
Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for California Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell, said O'Connell "encourages educators to help students learn and express their views on the rallies and protests while in school."
Alex Barber, a 17-year-old student at San Jose High Academy, knew beforehand of the ramifications of cutting class. An ardent supporter of the immigration demonstrations, he ditched a few times to participate in the protests. He even cut class in April to promote a protest. He got in trouble for that.
"That made me clean the whole school for a week," he said.
School districts are paid by the state based on attendance; the more students are absent, the less funding schools receive. "Attendance is taken in two stages -- P1 and P2, respectively," said Karen Fuqua, public information officer for San Jose Unified. One check is in the fall, and the other is in the spring. The spring date was in mid-April, which fortunately was before the Day without Immigrants rally.
Because most rallies happened in the afternoon anyway, the financial effect on the school district was minor. Fuqua explained that cutting class affected the students academically because they were "missing out on preparing" for state tests.
Despite the downsides, many agree the rallies have been effective in demonstrating deep involvement in the immigration debate.
"It shows how many people actually know what's happening now and are against it," Barber said.
"We're very proud of our students and how they behaved," Fuqua said. "They led rallies downtown, led rallies of their own. I think it gained them respect."
Even though the bulk of the protests have ended, students like 17-year-old Braulio Gonzales, who attends Menlo-Atherton High School, are on the lookout for more opportunities. "It's a thing that you hear in the news and you keep your eyes peeled."