The spring of 2018 may well be remembered as the beginning of a mass movement by working people against the domination of corporations and the 1%.
The leadership in red states and the federal government have tilted the tax system to favor the very wealthy, while demanding sacrifices from the powerless majority.
The teachers in West Virginia were first to say “Enough!”
But they are far from last.
The ALEC-inspired Republican legislatures killed collective bargaining, and the Supreme Court in expected to hobble labor unions with the Janus decision.
But that’s not going to stop working people from organizing and demanding a fair share of the bounty that they produced.
For all of Facebook’s sins and transgressions, it has nonetheless created a way for voiceless people to organize and act. Teachers and others created collectives on Facebook and used them to mobilize for mass actions.
The teachers’ strikes were organized by grassroots efforts that began on Facebook. Powerless teachers discovered that by acting in concert, they became powerful. They have used their numbers to demand fair pay and benefits and have stood up courageously to legislatures known to be in the pockets of the oil and gas industries and other malefactors of vast wealth.
Piece by piece, day by day, as they lead us, we will recover our democracy. We will rebuild the institutions now under assault by Trumpism and its variants. The names of the leaders are not well-known. They won’t be on the covers of magazines or interviewed by late night TV hosts. They are ordinary citizens who have stepped forward to demand justice, equity, and fairness and to revive our democracy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Piece by piece, day by day, as they lead us, we will recover our democracy. We will rebuild the institutions now under assault by Trumpism and its variants. The names of the leaders are not well-known.”
This sounds SO beautiful. I don’t understand the meanness that has pervaded our political system. Why make it continuously harder for people to survive when the wealthy have so much more than they will ever spend? Why do we hear the constant degrading of our lives? I am sensitive and all of this bothers me.
Who in our society is in a better position to take the lead than our public school teachers who are empowered with the responsibility of introducing children to the history and principles of democracy?
I would have never predicted that this uprising would have occurred in very red conservative states with “right to work” (for less) laws and weakened unions. States that adopted the libertarian credo of limited government and taxes cut to the bone to placate the oligarchs but which cut the throats of the poor and the struggling middle class. To say the least, this is a hopeful sign; these teachers organized themselves on their own in spite of the crippled unions.
“these teachers organized themselves on their own in spite of the crippled unions.” That statement may not be quite true . The Idea of a state wide job action from what I had read originated in one local union district then went viral . It was the union negotiating with the Gov. Not a strike committee .
What is true is that once a settlement is reached . It involves selling it to the members. Which can be more difficult.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-new-old-politics-of-the-west-virginia-teachers-strike
So let me ask what reason does a suburban NY teacher have to go on strike? Perhaps the reason we are seeing state wide strikes in these states is that these workers see little lose.
But what happens when the employer resists?
These red state legislatures find themselves in an untenable position of tax cuts for the wealthy at the same time as they are cutting services to the public . West Virginia has a long history of Union activism , that has been crushed by the advent of mountain top removal in the 70s. So the right may temporarily yield some ground . But they are not going away.
Again where is the workers committee organized on face book ?
. Don’t get me wrong . I am in a social media generated movement . But make no mistake the unwritten rule is we are there to represent the union and do things that legal restraints may prevent our Unions from doing. Unions can not partake in secondary boycotts mass movements of workers can. When that issue is addressed Unions will regain power.
This is the Facebook page that started the OK walkout
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257970398074287/?hc_ref=ARSoZ-7neVVc6nkNxKjjI4RtsBoqiHku74-PGxvyOlDRPjkzwxVmgaLqwWQzWK3xnH8&fref=gs&dti=257970398074287&hc_location=group
It was started Feb 27th
SpewingTruth
From the NY Times article .
“In Oklahoma, some rank-and-file educators expressed displeasure on social media that the union was calling off the walkout, and were discussing whether teachers could continue the work stoppage on their own. ”
So let me understand; this Facebook page organized the movement . Yet the union negotiated with the state . And the Union called off the strike . Yet the face book group that started it did not have the ability to continue it .
I think I understand now..
The most inspiring truth which cuts through so much “red” tape: “…these teachers organized themselves on their own in spite of the crippled unions.”
This is interesting, from ed tech sales:
“Though NetDragon has built market share in other countries like Turkey and Malaysia, So notes that the United States education technology market is more mature than others. He sees buying behavior in United States public schools that doesn’t happen in other countries, pointing to teachers who are willing to shell out significant amounts of their personal funds in order to improve schooling.
In the U.S. we have seen patterns like teachers willingly paying annually $500 from their pockets to buy content on their own. Whereas in China we don’t see that
Pep So, NetDragon
“In the U.S. we have seen patterns like teachers willingly paying annually $500 from their pockets to buy content on their own. Whereas in China we don’t see that,” explains So. Although Chinese parents spend heavily for out-of-school tutoring services for children, educators in public classrooms generally will not access education technology tools unless they are free.”
Parents in other countries pay out of pocket for tutors to bring up test scores- which we knew. But spending is spending. Which makes the comparisons between what the US “spends” on public schools versus other countries as to OUTCOMES, questionable, because there is private tutor spending in other countries that supplements the state spending. It doesn’t matter if the money comes from state + family- it’s all “spending”.
So if China (the state) spends less public funds on schools BUT Chinese parents supplement that with 1000 dollars a year that is not counted in comparisons then the comparison is invalid. To get a good comparison you would have to compare US public spending to Chinese public AND family spending if you’re actually interested in cost/outcomes. If you just want to use test scores to cut funding to public schools, however, you would use invalid comparisons. Like ed reformers do.
The Arizona teacher walkouts are just a skirmish in the larger war on public education
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-black-education-politics-20180426-story.html
The best part of this is how no one saw it coming.
You really have to marvel at how completely out of touch with their constituents these state lawmakers are, that they did not know it had reached crisis stage.
I look at those Oklahoma lawmakers and the photos of the ancient textbooks and neglected schools and think “do they ever ENTER any of these schools?”
There are public school families in every one of their districts. You can’t drive 5 miles without running into a public school in the US. That teachers had to shut down every school in West Virginia before these people would pay any attention is outrageous. Meanwhile, DC ed reformers are holding their umpteenth conference on “choice” while the system that serves 90% of families collapses. No one cares. No one can be bothered. They’re too busy “reinventing public education” to bother themselves with the mundane subject of…public schools.
Something like 1.5 million children will be affected by these strikes today.
You won’t find a word about them at the US Department of Education. They’ve gotten very good at utterly ignoring the public schools they disfavor. But will it work? Won’t people notice that none of their elected officials seem to be aware that their children’s public schools exist?
What will it take, I wonder to persuade our elected officials that the unfashionable “public school sector” could use some attention? Three states? Seven? All 50?
The best part of this is how no one saw it coming.
And members of congress, including democrats remain out of the loop of clear support for public education. They are captives of schemes from ALEC, the KOCH’s and others who are fundamentally against democratic governance and almost all public institutions serving the common good. They have theirs and you have to get yours.
Almost no member of congress, sends their children to WashDC public schools. see
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/how-many-politicians-send-their-kids-to-public-schools
Politicians have no incentive to support quality public education for the common people. They have the free choice, and they exercise it.
For many years, I have support a “slumlord” law, to force politicians to send their own children to public schools. That would “open up their nostrils”, as we say at the Pentagon.
Are you saying that politicians shouldn’t be answerable to the people who vote for them, or simply that they’re actually not answerable?
@dienne77: I apologize if I confused anyone. Politicians, of course, should be responsible to the voters/citizens. The citizenry holds the “keys to the kingdom”, and can vote them out, when the election rolls around.
The thrust of my post, is that most (not all) politicians do not feel much incentive to support public education. Notwithstanding the fact, that education is the biggest single expense in most state’s budgets, the politicians in most (not all) states, have let things slip into a terrible condition.
The mere fact of the teacher’s strikes in some states, should tell anyone that the politicians are not doing their job. Res ipso loquitur (the thing speaks for itself).
Most senators/congresspersons send their own children to non-public schools. What incentive do they have to support public education, when they avoid it like the plague?
Getting re-elected is a very big incentive to support public schools that educate 90% of children and that educated 90% of the population.
Of course most politicians (at the federal level) wish to continue in their careers until retirement. It is my observation, that supporting publicly-operated education, which is a state/municipal operation, and is 90+% funded by states/municipalities, just does not have much “traction” at the federal level.
I live in metro WashDC, and this is a political town. Congresspersons/senators just do not see the benefit of championing K-12 education. Other topics, like foreign affairs, terrorism, the economy, taxes, etc. seem to grab the headlines.
Again, most congresspersons/senators send their own children to non-public schools.
My opinion: Congresspersons/senators have just “washed their hands” of the whole public education operation.
No, they have not washed their hands of education. But they are drunk on the stale fumes of NCLB.
I do not know if congress/senate has abandoned public education altogether or not. I just do not see them speaking up for public schools.
Has anyone noticed, the silence thundering forth from Washington, in the present multi-state school teacher crisis? And it is a crisis, no doubt.
Congress is just not showing any interest at all in these strikes.
As I said, the silence is thunderous.
Teachers must stand strong!
“The Night before Walkouts” (based on The Night Before Christmas, of course)
‘Twas the night before Walkouts, when all through the Land
Not a state-house was stirring, not a session was planned
The budgets were lower than previous years
And teachers, of course, were on point of the spears
The children were tossing and turning in beds
While visions of Pearson tests danced in their heads
And mom with her iPhone and I with my Mac
Had just settled down for a night in the sack
When down at the school there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a “teacher briggade”, with a sign that was clear
“We’re not gonna take it, we’re due for a raise”
We can’t live on peanuts, for days upon days”
In numbers like penguins, the teachers amassed
And they whistled, and shouted, as honking cars passed
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the school house, the teachers they walked
And they sang and they shouted , and chanted and talked
And I heard them exclaim, in the dead of the night
“What’s for one is for all, for Democracy’s fight”
SomeDAM Poet: Loved it. I just sent your versions of The Night Before Christmas to a friend who is starting her first year working in Phoenix. She retired from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois last year and moved to a warmer climate.
Glad you like it.
Feel free to spread it far and wide!
Creative adaptation of a classic!
Damn, that’s good!
Colorado GOP Lawmakers want to put teachers in jail if they DARE strike. How ridiculous is THIS? https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/23/republican-bill-ban-teacher-protests-colorado/
Oy! Let’s start issuing those “legislators” their brown shirts.
Much in the same spirit as Diane and others have pointed out that DeVos is actually a good thing to bring attention to education issues, I’d kind of like to see this bill passed and signed into law—although it never will—and see some teachers jailed for expressing their constitutional rights. It would make a great court case and be kind of like seeing Bull Connor’s dogs and firehoses unleashed. It would wake up a lot of people to the reality of what’s going on in education.
And the ACLU would definitely take this one on.
Thank you, GregB, I agree, “It would wake up a lot of people to the reality of what’s going on in education.”
Here is a fascinating article, about why teachers are afraid to enter the classroom:
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2018/04/25/i-am-scared-to-walk-into-a-classroom.html?cmp=eml-enl-tu-news1&M=58464630&U=2306083
Yes, Charles, this is a powerful article in support of taking away guns from disturbed individuals and removing all AR-15s from everyone who is not in the military.