Jean in Newcastle Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 This is just a "I"m curious" question and has no direct bearing on any actual teacher strikes in the past, present or future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 No, teachers can't strike where I live, I don't think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Not that I've heard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Where I live, we had a major teacher's strike in the very recent past. We also have a lot of...I think they're called "charter schools" in the US... that many, many, many people use for homeschooling. At least one of those offers many online courses, including many summer online courses. The teacher's strike started before the end of the school year. It affected the possibility of summer school, and lasted into the start of the next school year. Enrollment in the charter's summer courses tripled, and they cut it off at that point. I'm not sure how much it affected enrollment for the whole next year...I'm sure it bumped it slightly. So I don't personally know any of the people who might have switched due to the strike, but I know there were some! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Not due to strikes, but due to union policies that cause burnt out teachers to retain their jobs when young ones get fired... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Yes, we had a number of new homeschoolers a few years ago because of a teacher strike in our state. A district was striking, but the school was still open using substitutes. The striking teachers were so nasty to the subs, parents, and even the children, that some parents said it changed their opinion of the teachers in their district and they would never send their children back to school. The teachers in our area are extremely well paid and the strike was over having to pay more for health insurance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I don't know of any, but I sure wished I could at the time! A few years ago, when DS was in public school (6th grade, I think), we had a strike that lasted more than 3 weeks. I sooooo wished I could take DS and a big bag of stuff and sit just outside the picket line, working together on learning. (I knew, of course, that DS would *never* be able to concentrate with all of his teachers walking around singing and shouting, but a girl can dream.) Alas, I was still away from home 11 hours a day then, so it wasn't possible anyway. What really stuck in my craw was the teachers' constant refrain of "it's not about us, it's about the children." Um, no, it isn't. Teaching is about the children. This strike is about you and your (my) money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'll assume you are referring to the Seattle strike... I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to their kids missing a few days of school. I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to "greedy" teachers. We have a number of friends from our time in Seattle who home school due to the pernicious effects of testing... a major issue in the current strike. We know people who home school due to the poor staffing levels, another issue in this strike. We have friends who homeschool due to the district and teachers animosity to white parents... Danny Westneat has written about this in the local press (at least in the old days). Sadly this isn't an issue currently for either the district or union. I think a district that has 30+% or parents opting out for private schools might want to be more conciliatory... We left Seattle before our kids were school aged and homeschool DS8 and send DS6 to public school for complex reasons... I think we would do the same if we were still in Seattle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'll assume you are referring to the Seattle strike... I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to their kids missing a few days of school. I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to "greedy" teachers. We have a number of friends from our time in Seattle who home school due to the pernicious effects of testing... a major issue in the current strike. We know people who home school due to the poor staffing levels, another issue in this strike. We have friends who homeschool due to the district and teachers animosity to white parents... Danny Westneat has written about this in the local press (at least in the old days). Sadly this isn't an issue currently for either the district or union. I think a district that has 30+% or parents opting out for private schools might want to be more conciliatory... We left Seattle before our kids were school aged and homeschool DS8 and send DS6 to public school for complex reasons... I think we would do the same if we were still in Seattle... Not specifically referring to the Seattle strike, though of course that prompted me to think about the topic somewhat. In the last years I don't think a year has gone by without striking in some school district(s) in the area. It just so happens that this year it is Seattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'll assume you are referring to the Seattle strike... I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to their kids missing a few days of school. I don't know anyone who has homeschooled due to "greedy" teachers. We have a number of friends from our time in Seattle who home school due to the pernicious effects of testing... a major issue in the current strike. We know people who home school due to the poor staffing levels, another issue in this strike. We have friends who homeschool due to the district and teachers animosity to white parents... Danny Westneat has written about this in the local press (at least in the old days). Sadly this isn't an issue currently for either the district or union. I think a district that has 30+% or parents opting out for private schools might want to be more conciliatory... We left Seattle before our kids were school aged and homeschool DS8 and send DS6 to public school for complex reasons... I think we would do the same if we were still in Seattle... Seattle does not have 30% of kids in private schools. It doesn't even crack the top 10 metros for private school enrollment. We've lived there and now live in Honolulu. The two do not compare. Where Private School Enrollment Is Highest and Lowest ... Seattle is also a majority white city and a majority white district (70% or more) and is growing more so every year. The bulk of 'draw' programs are also in predominantly white, upper-income, north and westside neighborhoods. What evidence is there of the district being hostile to white parents? As for the OP, we haven't homeschooled due to teacher strikes but I think strike situations may give people a final nudge if they are on the fence. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Seattle does not have 30% of kids in private schools. It doesn't even crack the top 10 metros for private school enrollment. We've lived there and now live in Honolulu. The two do not compare. Where Private School Enrollment Is Highest and Lowest ... Seattle is also a majority white city and a majority white district (70% or more) and is growing more so every year. The bulk of 'draw' programs are also in predominantly white, upper-income, north and westside neighborhoods. What evidence is there of the district being hostile to white parents? I can't find current stats but wiki has 2007 figures from the state showing Seattle being 42.8% white as a school district [1], so not majority white and well under city average. This article from 2007[2] states: Each year for nearly two decades, about 20 to 25 percent of Seattle’s school-age children have enrolled in private schools. Based on that, I assume the stat I misquoted was that 30% of middle class families choose private schools... either way 20-25% of raw students is huge. Prior to and through Maria Goodloe-Johnson's term as superintendent, math war issues were common. Issues with lottery school assignment were an ongoing source of uncertainty driving middle class parents out of the system much like in SF and other urban districts. Here is another quote from [2]: Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson said improving the quality and rigor at schools may draw more families back, but that’s not her focus. “How about, let’s provide the best possible instruction for the kids who are here?†she said. That lack of focus on rigor and sole focus on test score for low achieving kids was widely seen as being dismissive of middle class parents. The fact that district leadership actively called out middle class white parents as racist when they advocated for their kids is what I am referring to. I'd certainly believe things have improved with the introduction of neighborhood schools. Certainly test scores in the north and westside schools have spiked since then... The folks I was referring to chose to homeschool in the 2004-2011 period. Seattle has had teacher strikes quite often over the last few years. I was merely commenting on why our friends chose to homeschool. Perhaps my facts are out of date but they were certainly true in the near past. I'm glad to hear Seattle has turned around years of problems...none of which were primarily due to front line teachers. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Public_Schools [2] http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/seattle-school-board-turns-its-attention-to-middle-class-families/ ETA: I'm not trying to start a fight or even a discussion... I just wanted to explain my thought process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I appreciate what you're saying but much of it is/was inaccurate and certainly doesn't reflect the reality right now. I, too, misspoke in that SPS students were 44% white and approx. 18% Asian as of 2013 http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=15265. The number of white students in the district, however, has climbed steadily for the last 10 years or so, even before bussing ended. White parents are certainly not being driven off. Seattle also hasn't had a teacher strike since the mid-80s and the statement made by one superintendent, who was short-lived at that, does not and never did reflect the attitudes of the entire district or its teachers. Seattle also added Singapore Math as one of two approved math programs beginning in 2013. Times have changed. There's enough legit. stuff to criticize without completely misrepresenting the lay of the land. There was legitimate criticism of the way the neighborhood schools plan re-segregated the schools, locked south end kids into underresourced schools, and concentrated 'special' programs in racially homogenous areas of the city. These continue to be issues. That is not, however, hostility toward middle class parents but a recognition that middle class parents live in all parts of the city, not just the north and west. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I remember a teacher's strike when I was in elementary school (in MN). We thought it was awesome! :D (I have no idea about our current area. Just enjoying a random trip down memory lane.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Nope. I know that some major cities have had them, but I've never lived where there was one. In DC, the teachers decided not to strike and instead just waited things out working without a contract for ten years. The negotiations really went on that long. When they finished, the city had to pay the teacher's an enormous lump sum of back pay. In general, I think it would be a weird reason to homeschool. I mean, if there were teacher strikes several times a year or even every other year or something, you might get fed up with the teachers and the situation, but I don't think that's the norm anywhere. Maybe it's the last straw for a few people? Or maybe there are a few families who get the kid home during the strike, are determined to keep up her education, discover they like it and fall into homeschooling? Still, seems like a stretch. The one person I know who went through a teacher's strike in Chicago sounded downright giddy when it ended and her kids could return to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 No strikes in our area but I agree with up thread that if a parent was on the fence about homeschooling then a teacher's strike, especially a lengthy one, might tip the balance in an area where homeschooling is fairly well known. Where I live most people don't even realize it is legal. We are not the norm and the local community can be hostile at times to this choice. That is slowly starting to change but I seriously doubt most parents here would think "homeschooling" should teachers go on strike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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