A teacher strike occurs when a local teachers’ union and a school district cannot reach an agreement on the terms of a new contract during the traditional collective bargaining process. These strikes are often illegal and cause schools to close, disrupting students’ learning and family lives. They can also have a direct effect on economic activity, as businesses rely on workers to run their companies. Despite the disruption and cost, it remains unclear who wins when teachers strike.
Using a unique dataset of teacher strikes from 2007 to 2023, researchers identify the reasons for teacher strikes and the changes that follow them. They find that while 89 percent of strikes were motivated by pay or benefits, most also involved seeking improvements in working conditions such as lower class sizes, better facilities, and more support staff. In addition, many strikes targeted broader social issues like housing and immigration policy. Strikes were more common in districts with lower education spending and higher poverty levels, and were most prevalent in states with more conservative policies.
The study finds that a strike increases annual teacher compensation by about $10,000 (inflation-adjusted), on average, and improves working conditions such as student-teacher ratios. However, the benefits of these changes are mainly generated by new money to districts from states rather than through reallocations of existing district funds. Moreover, the research finds no sizable positive or negative effects on student achievement. Short strikes appear to achieve these benefits primarily by signaling to political leaders that the issue is urgent and needs their attention, while longer strikes achieve them through the more traditional industrial relations strategy of holding out until management concedes.
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