The government is not negotiating, and teachers are continuing their strike.

SP 247 - Teachers in the state education system decided this Thursday, the 23rd, to maintain their strike, which has already lasted 42 days. The decision was made at an assembly in Praça da República, in the center of the São Paulo capital, after a meeting with representatives from the State Department of Education.

With the government refusing to negotiate with the teachers, part of the group tried to invade the secretariat's headquarters in the city center. Military police used a tear gas canister to disperse the group, who also threw stones at the building's facade. There is no information about arrests.

After the police action, which involved throwing a tear gas canister on the stairs, the group left Praça da República. The teachers' march continued through the city center, accompanied by members of the Military Police.

Before the commotion, the president of Apeoesp, Maria Izabel Noronha, said that the meeting ended without an agreement. "We sat at the table for two hours hearing 'no means no.' The strike continues," stated the president of Apeoesp. According to Maria Izabel, the government said it will only present a proposal in July.

The State Department of Education reported that, during the meeting, it was proposed that the salary increase policy already underway in the state be continued.

Teachers are demanding a 75,33% raise to equalize their salaries with other categories requiring higher education. The state government says it has given a cumulative increase of 45% over the last four years.

On Wednesday (22), striking state teachers clashed with military police at the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, in the South Zone of the capital of São Paulo. One teacher was detained and taken to the 36th Police District, in Vila Mariana.

Read below the statement released by the Secretariat regarding the teachers' attempted protest:

Clarification note - Department of Education of the State of São Paulo

The State Department of Education repudiates the vandalism and attempted invasion of the Department's headquarters that occurred in the early afternoon of this Thursday, the 23rd, after the administration presented three proposals to the leaders of Apeoesp: a salary policy for the next four years with a base date of July 1st; and the submission of a law to the Legislative Assembly that includes temporary teachers in the Iamspe (Institute of Medical Assistance to State Public Servants) service network and establishes a reduction in the requirement of a 200-day interval starting from the third contract of these teachers (two hundred days).

Following a meeting with Secretary Herman Voorwald, the sixth such meeting this year alone, dozens of protesters broke windows, threw stones and pieces of iron, and endangered employees inside the Caetano de Campos building, a listed heritage site of the State of São Paulo. The act left security guards and watchmen injured. The strikers resorted to violence, demonstrating in a truculent, undemocratic, and unacceptable manner.

The Secretariat remains open to dialogue and reinforces its commitment to the students, parents, and teachers who are in the classroom. On Thursday morning, the attendance rate in state schools reached 96%. It is worth adding that, together with the staff, the Education Department built the salary policy that granted a 45% increase in the last four years, consolidated the promotion mechanisms, and this year defined the payment of a merit bonus worth R$ 1 billion.