Teacher strikes have dominated headlines this year as tens of thousands of educators and their supporters packed the streets in West Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, and other states. Educators are striking to demand that state legislatures and governors prioritize school funding. They are also striking to address working conditions that they believe undermine student learning, like a lack of support staff, rising class sizes, and inadequate school infrastructure.
The results of these teacher strikes are mixed. Short strikes, lasting five days or less, seem to have the most impact at capturing the attention of political leaders. Strikes that last longer seem to have more of a traditional industrial relations approach, holding out until management concedes (potentially at the expense of students).
Regardless, these strikes are having real effects on teachers and their classrooms. A new NBER working paper finds that the average annual teacher compensation increases by about $10,000 following a strike, and these increases are sustained over time. In addition, working conditions improve: class size decreases by a half-student on average and compensation for non-instructional staff increases by about seven percent. These improvements stem primarily from new money coming to districts from the state, rather than reallocations of existing district funds or local tax hikes.
As you cover these stories, focus on the factors that motivate teachers to take such an extreme measure for their students and schools. While they certainly want to earn a good starting salary, that’s only one part of what attracts teachers to the profession. They also want to work in a community that respects and values their efforts, one that treats them with the dignity they deserve.
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