Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 8 September 2018

Teacher strikes, unrest hit West Coast as unions flex muscle

By SALLY HO said the state was violat-
Associated Press ing its own Constitution by
SEATTLE (AP) — Fights over inadequately funding K-12
teacher salaries and work- schools.
ing conditions are escalat- This year, many of the
ing along the West Coast, teachers urged their school
emboldened in part by districts to reopen bargain-
the momentum from wide- ing talks in the middle of
spread teacher strikes in their contract period in or-
more conservative states. der to settle the pay dispar-
The teachers in these blue ity.
states — with robust teach- Teachers at Seattle Public
ers' unions, the right to strike Schools, the state's largest
and legislatures that are district, had authorized a
generally more support- strike but reached a one-
ive of education funding year deal giving them 10.5
— are tapping into a shift percent raises.
in public sentiment that In some smaller communi-
supports better wages for ties, school district officials
teachers that came as a have pushed back by su-
result of the "Red4Ed" pro- ing the unions to get them
test movement that began to work.
earlier this year. The state union is backing
The latest disputes are par- all teachers with a new
ticularly acute in Wash- political tactic, ordering
ington, a state that has in- for the first time "bargain-
fused at least $1 billion for ing season" television, radio
teacher pay to resolve a and Facebook ads to both
long-running court battle. put pressure on the dis-
With students returning tricts and urge community
to school in the last few members to stand with the
weeks, teachers in at least teachers.
18 public school districts so One ad highlights the
far have voted to authorize state's teacher shortage
a strike, gone on strike or Striking Tacoma Teachers walk a picket line, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018, in front of Lincoln High School while saying salaries aren't
settled their strikes in order in Tacoma, Wash. competitive in a region
to get pay raises. Associated Press flush with tech money.
"We saw everywhere from That's also a show of force
Arizona to West Virginia School District also voted jor rally in North Carolina. Michael Hansen, an edu- for the unions after a U.S.
standing up for fair wag- last week to authorize a Except for Colorado, all cation policy expert at the Supreme Court ruling in
es. Now that it's coming to strike, although a walkout of those states have "right Brookings Institution, said late June that declared
Washington state, we don't isn't imminent. The union to work" laws, which lim- the teachers' cause is un- government workers can't
feel isolated. We know we and district in the nation's its the ability for teachers doubtedly helped by the be required to contribute
have the support of our lo- second-largest school sys- to strike. Teachers there political dynamics shifting money to labor groups. As
cal community," said Con- tem have failed to reach instead scheduled wide- in the national conversa- the state teachers union
nie Vernon, an elementary an agreement on pay spread protest "walkouts." tion about teacher value. flexed its political muscle
teacher in the Washougal raises, smaller class sizes In West Virginia, teachers As the protest movement by spending in such an
School District in southwest and other issues. Both sides won a 5-percent raise even moves from fiscally-conser- unprecedented but high-
Washington, where a nine- have filed charges against though they lacked collec- vative red states without stakes way, local leaders
day walkout ended Thurs- the other and a state me- tive bargaining rights and much labor power, Hansen say their membership num-
day. diation session is scheduled had no legal right to strike. said momentum has shifted bers have not been af-
Rich Wood, spokesman for Sept. 27. The Washington teachers' to more union-friendly blue fected by the ruling even
the state teachers' union, The momentum earlier from union said it has been fight- states where pay and cost though it has the potential
said local bargaining units teacher protests in West Vir- ing for schools funding for of living are substantially to significantly weaken the
at two-thirds of the state's ginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, more than a decade, and higher. The red-state fights revenue base for all labor
295 school systems have Colorado and Arizona has that the timing of their lat- thrived as state-wide ac- unions.
sought to renegotiate sala- also carried into other kinds est contract and strike dis- tions, while the blue-state Washougal's superinten-
ries. of actions, including an or- cussions was coincidental disputes are at the district dent Mary Templeton said
In California, teachers in ganized teacher hunger to the national teacher up- level. the state union relationship
the Los Angeles Unified strike in Georgia and a ma- rising. "They sort of feel like a with the locals has been
tipping point has been affected by these broader
crossed," Hansen said. elements and that it's evi-
"Strategically, if you're go- dent by the rush of political
ing to advance and advo- activity being carried out
cate for more teacher pay, by the larger labor group.
this is the time." She said the district also
More state money to- wants to support teach-
ward teacher salaries was ers with a new salary pay
funded by the Washington scale.
Legislature after a court "We gave a lot because we
ruling that stemmed from know how important they
a 2007 lawsuit. The ruling are," Templeton said.q