Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Major Factors Contributing to Statewide Teacher Strikes

Tuesday, April 3, 2018, By Daryl Lovell
Share
facultySchool of Education

Thousands of school teachers in Oklahoma have returned to the picket lines today for the second day of strikes, demanding more public education spending. In Kentucky, thousands of teachers packed the state Capitol calling for changes to their pension plans. And there are rumblings Arizona educators could strike next. Two education professors at Syracuse University offer an explanation on the factors leading up to the strikes.

Dr. George Theoharis is a professor in the Teaching and Leadership Department at Syracuse University’s School of Education. Theoharis worked as a teacher, administrator, and principal in the Madison Metropolitan School District before he came to Syracuse. He says after decades of teachers being blamed for the struggles of education, they are standing up to call for a change.

Theoharis says:

“We have seen a resurgence of activism across the country….March for Our Lives, the Women’s March, Black Lives Matter, Dakota Access Pipeline, immigrant rights, etc. Along with that, we are seeing growing public dissatisfaction with the putative accountability era of K through12 education that has led to teachers forced to narrow their curriculum, an increased focus on standardized testing, and resorting to less authentic schooling.

“In this current context, after decades of schools and teachers being blamed for the struggles of education, we are seeing teachers across the country standing up for teaching and public schools.”

===============

Joseph Shedd is an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Education. He says many school districts are at a tipping point, and these strikes are signs of a deeper set of tensions that have built up in American public education for years.

Shedd says:

“On the surface, the teacher strikes in West Virginia and Oklahoma (if not Kentucky) are easy to explain: teachers’ salaries in those states are among the lowest in the nation, and have been stagnant for years. Kentucky teachers’ salaries are higher (they rank 27th out of 51, counting the District of Columbia), but their average salaries are still $13,000 below the $65,383 average for all American teachers.  It’s not surprising that teachers in those states have rejected calls for patience (in some cases, even calls from their union leaders) and decided to demand action from their state legislatures. The success of teachers in West Virginia almost certainly emboldened the teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky to act.

“The strikes are probably not isolated developments, however, but signs of a deeper set of tensions that have been building up in American public education for several years:

  • The refusal of state legislatures to maintain financial support for public schools, and the tendency of most states to slash support for public education in order to lower or hold down taxes at both the state and local levels
  • The political movement to blame teachers and teacher unions for weaknesses in public education, attacking teacher tenure, tying teachers’ evaluations to student test scores, and gutting protections for collective bargaining, rather than acknowledging that the cooperation of teachers and their unions is essential to any improvements in public education

“The picture is not all bleak, however. There are signs that things are getting better in some states and school districts, even as they are getting worse in others. I’d argue that we are at a ‘tipping point,’ with as many reasons for hope as for despair. In fact, the tensions that we’ve been experiencing can be interpreting as the symptoms of policymakers, teachers, school leaders and the general public struggling to invent a new system of public education: one that sets much higher expectations for student achievement and makes it possible for all students (not just some students) to meet those expectations.

“It shouldn’t surprise us that there would be sharp disagreements over how to meet those new demands, nor should it surprise us that some people would resist calls for providing more financial support for schools and for accepting teachers and their unions as partners, rather than framing them as obstacles, to achieving them.”

 

 

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing

T 315.443.1184   M 315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu | @DarylLovell

820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu | syracuse.edu

Syracuse University

  • Author

Daryl Lovell

  • Recent
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Hope Alvarez
  • Fall 2023 Career Week: Helping Students Achieve Professional Goals
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Gabrielle Lake
  • A Commitment to Arts and Sciences Excellence
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In Media, Law & Policy

Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna

Languages act as a guide for communicating our goals and dreams. It’s how we make sense of the world and connect with the communities around us. Become fluent in a variety of languages, and it’s like collecting keys that unlock…

Law Student Tyriese Robinson Named Inaugural Recipient of the NDNY FCBA Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 Law Scholarship

The first recipient of a scholarship established in honor of the Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66, L’71 is second-year law student Tyriese Robinson. The Northern District of New York (NDNY) Federal Court Bar Association (FCBA) Hon. Norman A. Mordue ’66,…

Robertson Fellows Aspire to Serve as Foreign Service Officers

Interested in careers in the foreign service, Zoe Prin and Forrest Gatrell took advantage of internships and other opportunities as undergraduates that exposed them to the inner workings of government, policymaking and service from differing vantage points. While Gatrell obtained…

Craig M. Boise to Conclude Tenure as College of Law Dean at End of Academic Year

When Craig M. Boise stepped into his role as dean of the College of Law in the spring of 2016, he described his vision to create “a sustainable law school that leverages the knowledge, skill and imagination of its faculty…

Meet Biko Skalla ’18, Voice of the World-Famous Savannah Bananas

Baseball is America’s pastime, a game rich in history and time-honored traditions, where change is slow to be embraced and slower still to be adopted. Then, there are the Savannah Bananas, a minor league baseball team that has changed the…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • 2015-16 Remembrance Scholars
  • 25th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
  • About
    • SU Today Publishing Schedule
  • Authors
  • Campus Email Intake Form
  • Communications Contacts
  • Connect with SU
  • Contact
  • Defenses and Examinations
  • Exhibitions
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
    • Media Experts: Syracuse University Researchers on COVID-19
  • Home
  • Inside SU Landing Page
  • Lawrence B. Taishoff Center Q&A
  • Media Coverage
  • Orange Appreciation Days/Winter Break Information
  • Past Stories
  • Resource Library: Blogs
  • Resource Library: Crisis Management
  • Resource Library: Media Relations
  • Resource Library: Media Training
  • Resource Library: Op-Eds
  • Resource Library: Research
  • Resource Library: Social Media / Social Networking
  • Resource Library: Useful Web Links
  • Sections
  • Statement from Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina Regarding Law School Student Blog Matter
  • Student Spotlights
  • SU News Services Resource Library
  • Submit an Announcement
  • Submitting News and Events
    • Submit an Announcement
    • Submit an Event
  • Subscribe
  • Syracuse Views
  • Topics
  • University Community Harvest Farmers’ Market
  • Videos
  • What’s New
  • Yearly Archive
  • ’Cuse Conversations Page With Subscription Box
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.