Picket Fencing

Amid fewer strikes, some see waning sympathy for educators.

Once as familiar in the back-to-school ritual as falling leaves, teacher strikes seem headed for a winter freeze. About 15 of the National Education Association’s 14,000 local affiliates have gone on strike since the start of this school year, according to the nation’s largest teachers’ union. That’s consistent with recent years, which have averaged between 10 and 15 affiliate strikes, according to NEA data.

“We don’t keep hard numbers, but we have definitely seen fewer strikes” recently, agrees John See, a spokesman for the American Federation

of Teachers, the second-largest national teachers’ union. By contrast, the 1980s witnessed dozens of strikes annually. What’s more, most of this year’s job actions have been in small districts and have...