The 2018 teachers' strike wave began on February 22, 2018, with a call from the West Virginia branches of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association for teachers across West Virginia to strike. The strike—which ended when teachers returned to their classrooms on March 7—inspired similar, statewide strikes in Oklahoma and Arizona. It also smaller-scale protests by school staff in Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, and elsewhere.
In Colorado two Republican party state representatives, Paul Lundeen and Bob Gardner, preemptively introduced a bill which would allow for court injunctions blocking the strike, allow school districts to fire the striking teachers, and impose court fines and six month jail sentences on strikers. [1]
Conditions for teachers in public schools worsened due to the Great Recession, during and after which states cut funding for education. West Virginia, where the strike wave began, ranked 46th out of 50 states for average teacher pay.
Rank | State | Teacher salary rank (2016) [2] | Demands | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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46 | ||
2 |
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49 | Raises for teachers and support staff; increased school budgets funded by capital gains tax increase | Raises for teachers and support staff funded by regressive taxes |
3 |
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47 | Raises for teachers and support staff; smaller class sizes | Strike is ongoing |
4 |
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34 |
The 2018 teachers' strike wave began on February 22, 2018, with a call from the West Virginia branches of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association for teachers across West Virginia to strike. The strike—which ended when teachers returned to their classrooms on March 7—inspired similar, statewide strikes in Oklahoma and Arizona. It also smaller-scale protests by school staff in Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, and elsewhere.
In Colorado two Republican party state representatives, Paul Lundeen and Bob Gardner, preemptively introduced a bill which would allow for court injunctions blocking the strike, allow school districts to fire the striking teachers, and impose court fines and six month jail sentences on strikers. [1]
Conditions for teachers in public schools worsened due to the Great Recession, during and after which states cut funding for education. West Virginia, where the strike wave began, ranked 46th out of 50 states for average teacher pay.
Rank | State | Teacher salary rank (2016) [2] | Demands | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
![]() |
46 | ||
2 |
![]() |
49 | Raises for teachers and support staff; increased school budgets funded by capital gains tax increase | Raises for teachers and support staff funded by regressive taxes |
3 |
![]() |
47 | Raises for teachers and support staff; smaller class sizes | Strike is ongoing |
4 |
![]() |
34 |