With students scheduled to sit down for the state's AIMS test today, protests against proposed immigration reform came to a halt Monday.
The Tucson Unified School District reported no student walkouts. Last week, more than 2,000 students walked out of schools, marching Downtown Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to protest proposed legislation that would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant.
School officials voiced concern last week about the walkouts continuing, because the AIMS test was quickly approaching. More than two dozen education and public officials released a letter over the weekend urging students in stay in class.
The pressure is on because this is the first year that the AIMS test is a graduation requirement for students. Some students need to pass the last installment — a math test — in order to graduate, but their number is much smaller than many had predicted.
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Still, if sophomores and juniors pass today's test, they don't need to worry about taking it again. And students who want to use classroom grades to offset their scores must take the test each time it is offered.
Officials said last week that they expect the protests to continue as the bill progresses in Congress. In the meantime, principals are scheduling forums for students to talk about immigration issues in school.
