On Top of the News
Chicago Teachers on Strike, Affecting 400,000 Students
NPR| September 10, 2012
Behind the Headline
Strike Phobia
Education Next| Fall 2006
Teachers in Chicago went in strike this morning, shutting 400,000 students out of school. While the teachers had been offered a large pay raise, their union refused to accept changes in teacher evaluations, teacher tenure, and class size that the school board leadership wanted. In “Strike Phobia,” an article from the Ed Next archive, Rick Hess and Marty West argued that teacher strikes might sometimes be a good sign for education. “The public’s aversion to conflict, combined with the political heft of teacher unions, can make school boards unduly deferential to union demands,” they wrote, leading to labor peace that is actually bad for education.
-Education Next
