Research says strikes DO lead to increased compensation
In a state like Tennessee, where policymakers continue stagnant investment in teacher compensation, the question arises: How can educators achieve improved pay?
The answer: Strikes!
Yes, state law forbids teacher strikes, but there are ways around such a prohibition (as striking teachers demonstrated in states like West Virginia and Oklahoma).
Peter Greene takes a look at research on the impact of teacher strikes:
In “The Causes and Consequences of U.S. Teacher Strikes” from the National Bureau of Economic Research, authors Melissa Arnold Lyon (SUNY Albany), Matthew A. Kraft (Brown University), and Matthew P. Steinberg (Accelerate) “revisit the question of how strikes affect wages, working conditions, and productivity in the context of the U.S. K-12 public education sector.”
The findings:
Strikes were most often about compensation, and the researchers find that the strikes did produce positive effects, with pay increases following in the post-strike years, regardless of the length of the contract agreement.
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