"What do we want?"
"Our education!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!"
That was the cry Friday as about 200 students, parents and teachers marched on St. Croix’s Government House on the eighth day of a strike by the local American Federation of Teachers.
The march snarled traffic in downtown Christiansted for more than an hour as the boisterous crowd showed its support for teachers and support staff who have been on strike for more than a week. And while teachers were defiant earlier in the day Friday, Gov. Charles Turnbull expressed his hope later in the day that the strike would be over by Monday.
But on noon Friday, teachers weren’t so optimistic.
"I’m sure (the Turnbull administration) were looking for us to be in class by now," said Alicia Ramos, an English and journalism teacher at the Education Complex and an AFT building representative. "I think the government took advantage of us for so long they didn’t think we’d be so demanding of them."
As Ramos spoke, students and representatives from several school Parent Teacher Associations made impassioned pleas in support of teachers and for school to reopen. At one point popular Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen was rebuffed from taking the microphone, told by PTA member Jonathon Henry that the time was for the students.
Regina Edwards, an Education Complex English teacher, said that before the strike many of her students were worried about the impact it would have on their education.
"Kids were really agitated," Edwards said. "Students were asking us not to strike because they were really concerned, especially the seniors."
Edwards, meanwhile, said that most teachers were holding up well after a week without pay. But she said that could change if the strike stretches on.
"This month will be alright for most," she said. "But if it goes any further it will be hard."
