DENVER — Over the past year and a half, several states have dealt with teacher strikes and walkouts. Major strikes and walkouts have taken place in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona, Los Angeles and Pueblo.
As a Denver Public Schools strike looms, what can we learn from these previous strikes?
AVERAGE LENGTH OF STRIKE
Based on our review, strikes in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona, Los Angeles and Pueblo impacted, on average, seven school days.
DID TEACHERS GET A HIGHER SALARY OFFER AFTER STRIKE?
Not always.
Higher offers were given in West Virginia and Pueblo (3 percent and 2 percent, respectively), however, in Arizona, Los Angeles and Oklahoma, the strike ended with the same offer given by the state or school district before the state. Teachers in those states did receive other types of victories.
Gov. Jared Polis hinted earlier this week that if Denver teachers go on strike, less money would be available, in the end, for the deal.
“If they go on strike, the pie is smaller for both sides,” Polis said.
The governor said the strike itself costs money. For instance, DPS is planning to pay substitute teachers more than it does its regular educators.
“These costs pile up, and if there were a work stoppage and a disruption of services for a week, that would have a tangible effect on what the district could do to compensate educators,” Polis added.
IMPACT ON ATTENDANCE
Over the last year and a half, most times that a major strike took place in the U.S., schools closed.
One example where closures didn’t occur was in Los Angeles. According to numbers reported by our news partner KTLA, only about one-third of students showed up to school during the L.A. teacher strike.