Background
After a weeklong teacher strike in Seattle, classes resumed on Sept. 14. The district and the Seattle Education Association (SEA) reached a tentative agreement for a three-year contract that includes an increase in pay by 7% the first year, 4% the second year and 3% the third year. The wage increase in years two and three will match cost of living increases if they surpass 4% and 3%. The agreement also states that 0.5 full-time social workers will join each public school this year. Additional certified nurses and speech-language specialists will be hired to make the specialist to student ratio 1:46. The district plans to take further action in the next two years to make the specialist to student ratio 1:44.
SEA voted to suspend the strike on Sept. 13, but the vote was riddled with controversy. Seattle educators claim that SEA forcibly shut down the strike after an antidemocratic maneuver to force a vote to suspend the strike before a complete tentative agreement had been voted on. The suspension passed 57% to 43%, but many members of the association are skeptical of the legitimacy of the vote, which was conducted online and controlled by SEA with no oversight unlike votes in the past. SEA approved the contract on Sept. 19.
The contract has not been ratified by the Seattle School Board, which will need to happen before the contract formally goes into effect. As the contract could cost the district over $200 million, concerns have been raised. A budget meeting to discuss the issue further has been scheduled for October.
Seattle proves that teacher strikes are part of the problem
Teacher strikes do not solve issues with the U.S. education system. Seattle is a perfect example.
Shelby Hiens
Outright striking is not the only method that teachers can implement to create change in their workplace and it is certainly not the best method. Seattle educators and support staff have demonstrated that, after a week of striking, they have achieved delaying students’ education by a week. Until the contract is ratified, much needed support staff, certified nurses and speech-language specialists will not be hired. Until the contract is ratified, educators will not receive their pay raises.
Other tactics of protest that do not involve the outright discontinuation of work include work to rule, refusal of paperwork and boycotting overtime. These should be considered before a full on strike because they allow educators to keep working without delaying students’ education and receive a paycheck for coming to work every day. These tactics are also useful in the instance of a no-strike contract. However, educators must not give evidence of an orchestrated campaign because that is not protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
With work to rule, educators should adhere to every rule and duty their specific role demands. This does not mean that teachers can’t go above and beyond for their students, but it does mean loss of efficiency for the school if every tedious rule and regulation is followed. This includes educators taking all legally entitled breaks and only grading papers during official working hours.
Refusal of paperwork creates a noticeable problem for school administration. Refusing to grade papers, homework and tests does not directly affect students if educators still review correct answers during class and teach students how to work problems they miss. The lack of data entry does, however, create problems for administration as they are supposed to review student scores and progress data, especially on standardized tests.
Lastly, boycotting overtime can demonstrate how much work educators do outside of their official working hours and responsibilities, especially hours that they are not getting paid overtime. This does not affect student learning if teachers have their lessons in place for the year or reuse them on a yearly basis. This tactic does put a strain on the school and administration if educators do not volunteer to oversee school functions or student extracurriculars. The downside to this method is that students won’t be able to participate in these functions or activities, but their learning won’t be affected at the least.
With these tactics, educators can covertly protest without significantly impacting student learning while creating indiscreet problems for school administrations and districts.
Before protesting or striking at all, educators should voice their opinions and attempt to negotiate with the district to create change. Stopping all work and going on strike should only be a last resort as the drawbacks are numerous. Educators have to think about their impact on students as much as their impact on administration and the government.
Striking also creates temporary change where long-lasting change needs to be implemented. It is no secret that the U.S. education system has many faults spanning funding, teacher wages, student support, standardized education, overcrowding, education equity, security measures, overall accessibility and more. When educators in individual districts within individual states protest or strike, they fight for a fraction of students and teachers. All students deserve the resources they require to learn and educators deserve the support required to teach and assist students in school as well as wages that are high enough to live without struggling. This would require the government to transition the current education system to an improved, modern system that actually supports student needs instead of pushing them through an inconsiderate system that fails.
Because the government is not willing to overhaul the education system as it stands, letting student and educator struggles go unheard, all educators need to band together and force the government to create lasting change and put forth real solutions to the education crisis. Education is one of the most important institutions that exists. Individual teacher strikes that put temporary bandaids on a few issues will not help the education system as a whole. They are not solutions, they are distractions to the real problem.
Teachers strike to get better support
Teachers in Seattle end their successful strike and demonstrate why strikes work.
Mary Lickona
Though the success of this particular strike is debatable, teacher strikes are a necessary evil. Teachers should not have to resort to striking in order for them to receive support and better pay. However, if the district is not responding to their concerns, then drastic measures must be taken. Teaching is already a difficult and taxing job without the proper services and support, but without them, the education students receive can be mediocre at best.
Yes, teacher strikes do halt the education of students, but it is better for the stop to be a full, temporary one than trying to silently protest administration over the course of the whole year, only for them to promise change in the next year, and the next and the next. Once the need for more support has become glaringly evident, the more time that passes the greater the need becomes. If every teacher strike was accomplished through small, incremental acts of rebellion and refusal, the ones who would end up suffering the most would be students, as the need for support would still be unanswered, and they would fall even more behind educationally.
In the past, school districts have responded to teacher demands, but only after teachers have made it abundantly clear via strike that they will not go on without better support for them and their students. The past several years have seen teacher strikes in multiple cities and states, with educators forming many unions to insist upon change in their classrooms. The fact that striking has become so common is a sign that educators have realized that the U.S. education system has stuck to the unstainable model of education that relies on the exhaustive efforts of teachers and other educational staff, not on the actual system that should be in place to provide education. If the education of students relies more heavily on teachers working excessive, underpaid hours rather than the U.S. Department of Education, then there is clearly a major problem. Strikes reveal the lack of trust teachers have in their districts. If those who have dedicated their lives to education are willing to put a strike ahead of the education of their students, then maybe the administrations will finally recognize that something is deeply wrong.
The halt in education brought about by teacher strikes is frustrating, but it is better for there to be temporary frustration than year-long frustration felt by students and teachers. This is especially true when it comes to special needs and multilingual students. The opportunity for frustration is already there for these students, and they must be given extra support so they can not only overcome frustration, but instead reach their highest level of success. Teachers must be able to give that support, and if strikes can be the only way they can achieve it, then strike away.
