The Latest: Big NC school districts close for teacher rally

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on major North Carolina school districts planning to close May 16 as teachers rally to demand increased education spending from state lawmakers opening their annual legislative session. (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

More large school districts in North Carolina plan to shut down for one day next week as teachers greet returning legislators with demands to increase education funding.

The state’s largest and third-largest school districts announced Monday they will be closed on May 16, following a similar move by the second largest district last week.

The Wake County Public School System said about a quarter of its 10,000 teachers in and around the state’s capital city asked for the day off to participate in the rally. Guilford County schools canceled in the wake of nearly 2,000 expected teacher absences, twice the number of available substitutes.

The rally is being organized by the state’s association of educators, whose members are unhappy with the Republican-controlled legislature’s decisions on teacher salaries and school funding.

Second-largest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Friday canceled classes for the protest.

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3:20 p.m

North Carolina’s largest school district is shutting down for one day next week, allowing up to 10,000 teachers to attend a rally demanding better working conditions and education funding.

The Wake County Public School System said Monday it will be closed on May 16, the same day state lawmakers open their annual session. About a quarter of the teachers employed in and around the state’s capital city asked for the day off to participate in the rally. The district’s 160,000 students won’t make up the class time.

The rally is being organized by the state’s association of educators, whose members are unhappy with the Republican-controlled legislature’s decisions on teacher salaries and school funding.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Friday canceled classes on the protest day. Durham County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools will also close.