On Top of the News
Seattle Teachers Strike On First Day Of School
Associated Press | 9/9/15

Behind the Headline
Strike Phobia
Education Next| Summer 2006

Teachers in Seattle are on strike today after contract talks between the teachers union and the school district broke down. The two sides are far apart on key issues, including pay raises, teacher evaluations and the length of the school day, notes the Associated Press.

In an article for Education Next, Rick Hess and Marty West consider whether labor unrest can sometimes be a good thing. “You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to wonder whether collective bargaining in education hasn’t become something more like collusion,” they write. “The public’s aversion to conflict, combined with the political heft of teacher unions, can make school boards unduly deferential to union demands.”

– Education Next