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WUNC's American Graduate Project is part of a nationwide public media conversation about the dropout crisis. We'll explore the issue through news reports, call-in programs and a forum produced with UNC-TV. Also as a part of this project we've partnered with the Durham Nativity School and YO: Durham to found the WUNC Youth Radio Club. These reports are part of American Graduate-Let’s Make it Happen!- a public media initiative to address the drop out crisis, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and these generous funders: Project Funders:GlaxoSmithKlineThe Goodnight Educational FoundationJoseph M. Bryan Foundation State FarmThe Grable FoundationFarrington FoundationMore education stories from WUNC

Moral Monday Protesters Sing And Chant In Legislative Building; 19 Arrested

Protesters gathered outside the Senate chamber to demonstrate against policies they say are regressive.

Nineteen Moral Monday protesters were arrested yesterday after demonstrating in the legislative building against budget proposals and policies passed by Republican-led General Assembly.

Dozens of protesters stomped, danced, and chanted at the very tops of their lungs, days after a superior court judge struck down new rules that prohibit loud activities and noises that would cause disturbances. The Wake County judge on Friday argued that the rules were unconstitutional, overly broad and vague.

Despite the temporary suspension of the rules, General Assembly officers say the 19 protesters were cited for being too disruptive. The noise could be heard throughout the building and Senate chamber, where legislators said they had trouble hearing one another.

Monday’s loud protests were focused on workers’ rights, including unemployment and raising the minimum wage.

Lt. Martin Brock, of the General Assembly Police, ordered the arrest of the protesters giving them multiple warnings and calmly asking them to leave.

One of the protesters arrested was 20-year-old Lindsay Ware with Raise Up, an organization that advocates for low-wage and fast-food workers.

“I would like to see that minimum wage get raised, that teachers get money. It's funny that my tuition went up, but may pay didn't. It's just not fair,” she said.

Republican lawmakers say raising teacher pay is a priority for the short session. They’ve come up with proposals that would increase salaries up to 11 percent. Senators propose making cuts to teacher assistant positions to pay for the raises, while House leaders are looking to increase revenues in the state’s lottery program.

NAACP President the Rev. William Barber said demonstrators will hold a mass sit-ins throughout the building in multiple lawmakers’ offices next week. 

Reema Khrais joined WUNC in 2013 to cover education in pre-kindergarten through high school. Previously, she won the prestigious Joan B. Kroc Fellowship. For the fellowship, she spent a year at NPR where she reported nationally, produced on Weekends on All Things Considered and edited on the digital desk. She also spent some time at New York Public Radio as an education reporter, covering the overhaul of vocational schools, the contentious closures of city schools and age-old high school rivalries.
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