No Striking!
Posted by drpezz on August 22, 2008
Teachers in a few of Washington State’s school districts have hinted at strikes to start the year (see here and here and here). To me, this is a bad idea on a couple fronts.
Firstly, one editorial writer notes that:
Facing a nearly $3 billion deficit, the Legislature isn’t likely to be more generous. In other industries [in Washington State], pay raises have been replaced by layoffs, weakening any sympathy teachers might otherwise engender.
The climate is not right for a strike by teachers. Besides the deficit (completely the responsibility of the legislature which spent the surplus without forethought, but still a reality), teachers in this state received around 9% in cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) the last two years. This will not endear the teachers to the public, especially when much of the public has taken pay cuts and pink slips.
Furthermore, I do not believe in strikes for teachers because I believe we can win support and make our points better by simply working our contract hours. Show the public and the legislature what their money actually funds.
If I worked only my hours, at least the following would occur:
- no more recommendation letters for students,
- very little prep work would be done,
- grading would be in-class or virtually non-existent,
- fewer assignments would be given,
- teacher collaboration would almost end,
- before and after school tutoring would end,
- extra research for my content area would end,
- parent contacts would only occur during my limited contract hours, and
- all-staff meetings would become more narrow and very short (hmmm, not a bad idea here).
Still, I think this is a better public relations move than having everyone go on strike. Am I alone on this?
mrschili said
You are not alone. Work to rule is a wonderful way of making a point about the REAL work that teachers do. Personally, I think that work to rule is a much more effective means of protest than striking – and the students suffer less, to boot.
drpezz said
Yes, I like eliminating the “hurting students” argument as well. That’s just too easy of an issue that any opposition can make.
ms_teacher said
It all depends upon teacher buy-in when it comes to work-to-rule. One of the problems we face in our district is many of our elementary teachers find it very hard to work to rule. I think for those of us at the secondary level, it’s a little bit easier.
drpezz said
Our elementary teachers would not like it either. If it were to not work, I suspect it would be because of that group.
McSwain said
Ms. Chili’s point that work-to-rule would highlight the REAL work that teachers do is excellent. I also like the idea of teachers not losing their paychecks during a strike. But, as an elementary school teacher, I would find it very difficult. It’s not that I wouldn’t like it, it’s just that it’s next to impossible to fit in planning and grading during the school day when you’re with younger, not-as-independent kids. I COULD do it if I differentiated NOTHING. Which would make me a far less effective teacher.
Still. I like it better than a strike.
Ryan said
Nobody wins a strike. There might be a pay raise, but I don’t think that can make up for the intangible losses sure to follow.
I hope that all the districts in question are able to reach settlement.
joycemocha said
As a teacher who survived a long strike, I disagree that strikes are not always productive. However, we weren’t striking over money but contract rollbacks over conditions, including evaluations, and we faced a superintendent who rumor had it had been hired to “break the union.”
Four weeks later, we won. Several members of that school board resigned the following spring; the superintendent resigned a year later, and we now have a much better administration in place and are working together instead of against each other. Plus we just signed a four year contract BEFORE the expiration date with little controversy (we had been working a year without a contract before that strike on the previous contract).
It all depends on the reason for striking. Part of our winning was that we earned back some decent district-wide conditions. There’s still some problems, but it’s nothing like it was.