Anti-Union Bill Roils Students to Organize Walkout

Students at are fearing that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union bill will have a domino effect and ultimately hit their hometown and teachers.

Alex Knorr, an 18-year-old senior at Niles West High School, said a mass walkout to protest such measures is likely to happen next week.

"We've been thinking about it, [and we're] a little hesitant with how our teachers are going to react," Knorr said. "But in the end, it's going to happen."

Knorr's comments come after Wisconsin Republicans pushed through a bill that severely hinders collective bargaining for public union workers on Thursday. With Democrats out of town, the bill passed in less than 30 minutes after GOP members executed a procedural move that landed a 53-43 vote. The ruse caused an uproar, drawing more than 5,000 union workers to barricade themselves at the State Capitol in Madison.

The idea of a walkout came after liberal filmmaker Michael Moore applauded Wisconsin high school students for organizing a mass walkout scheduled at 2 p.m. today in protest of the anti-union legislation.

His comments came moments after the bill had passed, and a disturbed Moore told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: "This is a class war that has been leveled against the working people of this country."

Knorr, who also helped organize a protest against the , fears that other states will follow Wisconsin's actions, with the effect rippling down to District 219 teachers.

She expects more than 100 students to participate in next week's walkout.

"I think it has already spread here," Knorr said. "Teachers are upset about what's going on, and we can see that they're worried.

 "We want to show them that we care about them," she explained.

Knorr may be right. In Indiana, Democratic legislators left the Statehouse in an effort to avoid voting on an anti-union bill similar to Wisconsin's.

While the Wisconsin protest is scheduled for Friday, Knorr said students want to talk to teachers and make sure they don't take the planned walkout as a sign of disrespect. Yet their game plan will mirror those of high school students in Madison: At 2 p.m., students will walk out of class and gather outside of the school.

Yet for others, fear of the anti-union bill spreading and teacher layoffs isn't the only reason they support the demonstration.

Eric Krikorian, also an 18-year-old senior at Niles West, said the around town have many students worried that their teachers may fall victim to the budget ax. In District 219, for example, board members are talking about releasing 10 tenured teachers in an effort to save about $1 million at Niles West and Niles North high schools.

In District 69, administrators in the coming months.

"We really want to do something for our teachers to show them they are important to us," Krikorian said. "We're close to a lot of teachers; but before we do anything, we want to make sure everybody [participating in the walkout] is really educated."

Krikorian said that social media powerhouse Facebook has been an excellent tool in raising awareness among fellow students about the walkout. He added that it was especially useful when organizing the .

"When we found out that [Westboro Baptist Church] was coming, we had like two days to organize the event," he said. "Facebook and word of mouth helped spread the word like wildfire."

For Krikorian, however, the upcoming walkout hits a little closer to home.

"My mom actually works at Lincoln Hall," he said. "With the layoffs going on, and everything in Wisconsin, I can see that she's worried. And I want her to know that I care about what's going on."