This edition of Labor 131, presented by the National Labor Office, features Kelly Goodman, a faculty fellow at Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, who joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the history of teacher strikes, funding challenges in public education and the impact of recent policy changes on school budgets.
Goodman highlighted the 1973 Detroit teachers' strike, which lasted 43 days and forced the state to authorize new taxing powers for city schools. She said the strike was a response to attempts to automate education and tie teacher pay to student performance. The resulting non-voted tax authority lasted five years before conservative backlash removed it. Goodman noted that while healthcare spending has quadrupled since the 1960s, education spending has remained flat due to constitutional limits on public spending and a lack of federal subsidies.
She then discussed the Chicago Teachers Union's 2012 strike, which she believes revitalized the use of strikes as a powerful tool for educators. Goodman said this strike successfully fought off performance-based pay tied to standardized test scores and secured pay increases. Subsequent strikes in 2019 and negotiations through 2025 have led to significant gains, she mentioned, including increased staffing for bilingual education, protection of teachers' rights to teach black history and three months of paid parental leave. These victories serve as a model for teachers nationwide, demonstrating the potential of collective action, Goodman added.
Recent policy changes, including the Trump tax cuts, have put pressure on school budgets, particularly affecting K-12 education, special education and Title 1 schools. Goodman pointed to Massachusetts as an example of how states can address this issue, citing the 2022 ballot initiative that imposed a 4 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million. She explained that the measure has generated funds for free community college, public transportation and university research. Goodman emphasized the need for states to step in and redirect tax savings to education funding, as public education is constitutionally a state responsibility.
Listen to the full episode for more insights on the history and future of public education funding.
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