Calvin Coolidge, for good reason, is infrequently quoted. But when he is, it’s usually a variation on this one: “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.”
I’d broaden that beyond police, fire and air traffic controllers to embrace “public welfare”–and include emergency room personnel, sanitation workers and school teachers. And, frankly, if a lot of students are not in school when they normally would be, that has safety implications as well.
Let’s be clear. The option of a strike is a key arrow in labor’s quiver. It’s leverage at the disposal of those employed by manufacturers and service providers. But teachers walking off the job is not acceptable. Not in Chicago, not in Hillsborough County, not anywhere. Regardless of the issues, including pay, class size and evaluations.
Not to be naive or a management apologist–and in a previous incarnation I was a teacher–but your first priority is to your students. They are not unbought widgets. They are untaught kids. They’re partners in a societal compact unlike any other. And they know whom the adult half walked out on. Ironically, learning–even if it’s not in a lesson plan–still occurs.