A teacher strike involves teachers refusing to work while negotiating with their local school board for new terms in their collective bargaining agreement. The ultimate goal is to have state policy makers—usually governors and legislators—take up the issues that the teachers raise. This is a powerful strategy because state lawmakers have the greatest power in terms of allocating resources to local districts and determining how much of a district’s taxes can be raised for education.
The teachers who strike tend to focus on the issues that ostensibly matter most to educators unions and their members, such as a lack of adequate classroom funding and crumbling infrastructure, as well as inadequate health care benefits and poor working conditions. In many cases, strikes have been a catalyst for increased activism among educators.
While most strikes last a few days or less, some are longer and can result in the cancellation of thousands of school days per year across the country. Some teachers even decide to defy states’ laws that prohibit public employees from striking.
One example was the 2018 Columbus teachers’ strike, when they demanded smaller class sizes, air-conditioned classrooms and a commitment to invest in schools. Teachers also wanted to address issues that impacted their students’ lives, such as access to healthy food and safe housing.
Reporters can help readers understand the importance of the issues by examining data related to teacher salaries and the number of schools that are closed during a teacher strike. They can also share stories of students, parents and families struggling to find child care or other ways to fill in the gaps.