Detroit King students hold protest march about school conditions

DETROIT (WJBK) - Students at Detroit's Martin Luther King High School show solidarity with their teachers. They held a protest Friday demanding an end to horrible conditions in schools, large class sizes, and the lack of supplies.

"This is not a walkout, our lives matter, DPS lives matter," the students chanted.

The students say it is time to stand up and be heard.

"We took our lunch hour to come out and do this," said Alessandra Alzarez-Paines, a senior.

"So when we say this is not a walk out, no one exited from class," said DeMarcus Taylor, a junior.

Wearing black shirts with the words "My life matters" these students say problems at Detroit Public Schools are hurting their education.

"This is us making a statement because the students are outraged," Paines said  "We need smaller classrooms. We need better resources."

For weeks hundreds of DPS teachers have participated in sickouts that have forced the closing of several schools to bring attention to what they say are low teacher pay, substandard building conditions and a lack of resources for teaching.

But these students say they are stepping out of background and demanding change for themselves.

In a statement DPS officials said:

"Immediately upon coming back into the school, a small committee of students, met with the assistant Principal and other building leaders to voice their issues and then returned to class."

But these students say the fight for a better education will continue.

"Vision without action is just passes time," said one student. "But action with vision can change the world."