David Boyle: May Day is coming. Will your kids participate? The NEA hopes so

By DAVID BOYLE

April 29, 2026 – The Left has set May 1, 2026, as a “No Work, No School, No Shopping” day to protest President Donald Trump.  Many labor organizations and other left-wing groups are participating across the nation.  This day of action includes the typical Marxist demands to take from the rich to benefit the “people,.

Sunrise Movement is the lead organizer of these protests and calls on students to do monthly acts of disruption.  This organization has even provided a “guidebook” that trains K12 students in planning, protesting and making demands to school administrators.

The NEA-National is also actively participating and encouraging its members to come out strong on May 1.

Here are the demands of the NEA:

“Our demands to build the society we ALL deserve:

• Stop the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump Administration.
• Protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on.
• Fully fund public schools, healthcare, and housing for all.
• Stop the attacks on our communities, including policies targeting immigrants, people of color, Native people, people with disabilities, and those who identify as LGBTQ+.”

The NEA even has sample emails, social media posts, and banners to help get the event message out.

Currently, the NEA lists two events planned in Alaska: one in Juneau and one in Soldotna. The Soldotna May Day event is called “Workers over Billionaires.”

May Day ‘Rise Up’ student handbook teaches activists to ‘pick villains,’

The NEA and leftist organizations are using our K12 students as “useful tools” to serve their political revolution.

From NEA-National web page: “On May 1, 2026, education workers will join parents, students, and community members to rise up for dignity, justice, and public investment in our lives, not in billionaires’ profit margins.

So, I asked the Big 5 Alaska (Anchorage, MatSu, Kenai, Fairbanks, Juneau) school district superintendents how they would respond to these May Day protests.

How are the Big 5 Alaska school districts responding to students staging walkouts during school hours?  How are they responding to their staff participating in these May Day demonstrations?

Here are the specific questions I asked:

1. Have staff participated in activating students to participate in political demonstrations?
2. If students stage a walkout/protest, will they be accountable for lost class time?
3. If students stage a walkout/protest, will the district ensure their safety?
4. If staff participate in the walkout/protest, will they be charged time off?
5. Does the district have a written policy on student walkouts/protests? If so, please provide the policy.

*(The original email sent April 15 and forwarded to the superintendent on April 16. I received no response)

The Juneau School District provided the most comprehensive response with an example email that it sends to its staff during protests.  That email provides general guidance in case of student walkouts and demonstrations.

Most importantly, none of the Big 5 school districts has a specific policy (question 5) regarding student demonstrations, walkouts, protests.  This needs to be addressed by their school boards to provide direction to the school administrators.

In January of this year West High School students staged a walkout to protest ICE.  Did these students lose class time? Was their protest disruptive to other students? Was their safety assured?

Without a policy on student walkouts/protests, the school administrators cannot effectively provide safety, cannot determine if students are absent, and cannot provide staff information on their participation.

It’s great that students are knowledgeable of current events and are engaged in the political process.

What’s not so great are the teachers’ unions grooming our children as “useful tools” to promote division in our communities and nation.

We should not be funding partisan political agendas.  We should not be funding division and strife.

Ask your student if he/she is participating in these May Day protests. Then discuss the “why” and “what” are they protesting.

And everyone, ask your school superintendents and school boards if they condone these out-of-class demonstrations.

Alaska students should not be used as “useful tools” to promote political agendas.  They should be learning to read, to do math, and to critically think.

David Boyle is a longtime Alaskan who writes on education topics for The Alaska Story.

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