Robert Allen

Detroit Free Press

A Detroit teacher called for a "full strike" from the steps of Cobo Center today after several hours of protests.

Nearly all of the city's schools were closed today because of teacher sick-outs. Carrying signs criticizing Snyder for lead-tainted water in Flint and dangerous building conditions in Detroit Public Schools, the protesters -- including many teachers -- timed the march to coincide with today's visit by President Barack Obama to the North American International Auto Show inside Cobo Center.

The call for a strike was made while Obama was touring the auto show.

"We can't just let it be a day we blow off steam," said Nicole Conaway, a math teacher at East English Village. She called for a "full strike" starting Thursday, and numerous people put up their hands in agreement.

In Michigan, it's illegal for teachers to strike. State law defines a strike by public workers as the "concerted failure to report for duty, the willful absence from one's position ... for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in employment conditions, compensation, or the rights, privileges, or obligations of employment."

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If a majority on the Michigan Employment Relations Commission concludes that individual teachers violated the state's law prohibiting striking, it can impose fines on the teacher equal to one day's pay, plus $5,000 for each full or partial day of school missed.

Protesters today spoke of ceiling tiles falling on students' heads among deplorable conditions as well as classrooms overloaded with students. They waved signs and at times were joined by others protesting Flint's water crisis and other issues. Many demanded the ouster of Gov. Rick Snyder.

About 200 people were involved in the protest at its peak, shortly before noon.

Detroit police did not interfere with the protest, other than to tell marchers to keep moving and not block traffic.

Christal Bonner, a special education teacher since 2003, works at Cody- Detroit Institute of Technology College Prep High School. She waved bottles of tinted water at passersby, saying they were compliments of Snyder.

She said both the Flint water crisis and Detroit schools problems have the same emergency manager, Darnell Earley, in common.

"There's an oppressive aura all throughout Detroit public schools," she said. "You know why? Because we have a dictator in charge."

Bonner said she sometimes has to open windows in the school even in winter because the heat is out of control. She describes the buildings as "dilapidated" and more security is needed, among concerns.

The protests were followed later in the afternoon by another teacher rally, this one starting at Hart Plaza.

"We will fight, day and night, to protect our children's rights," the teachers chanted.

After about 20 minutes, the crowd of dozens of teachers took their fight west, marching down Jefferson back to Cobo. They stood outside, walking around in a circle, chanting and holding signs.

Claudia Bean, a 22-year teacher in the district, said she hopes people get the message that conditions in the school are poor. In her school, which she declined to name, there are two climates. "On one side of the building it's Alaska. On the other it's Florida. It's hot, steaming and musty."

"Our number one thing is the children. We need to give the children a warm, safe, welcoming environment," Bean said.

Teachers said they believe the sick-outs are a last-ditch effort to draw attention to the conditions.

"This is not just something that happened today. This has been going on for years," said teacher Lori Jennings. "It's like a dictatorship here and we don't have a voice."

This morning's protests began this morning with a rally of about 75 teachers outside the headquarters of AFSCME on Lafayette Boulevard where state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit, called Snyder's state reform school district, the Educational Achievement Authority, a "separate, unequal experiment on black children." The district, which oversees schools in the bottom 5 percent of schools statewide, currently includes 15 schools in Detroit.

The rally came as 88 Detroit Public Schools were closed today by teacher sick-outs. Teachers have been calling in sick in recent weeks in an effort to highlight problems in the district including overcrowded classrooms and building conditions they say are dangerous for students and staffers.

DPS's emergency manager Darnell Earley said earlier this month that the district could run out of cash by April or May if the state doesn't help. Last week, Snyder introduced legislation to help DPS, though critics insist it doesn't go far enough.

Free Press staff writers Lori Higgins and John Wisely contributed to this report.

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Teacher sick-outs close nearly all DPS schools