School & District Management

MAP: Where School Employees Can and Can’t Strike

37 States Prohibit Public Sector Strikes
By Mark Lieberman — March 16, 2023 2 min read
Amy Chapman and her daughter, first grader Corinne Anderson, pose for a photo while they support teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

More than 30,000 school workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are poised to strike for three days next week, and roughly 35,000 teachers and other workers in another union have vowed to join them. That action would shut down schools for the district’s more than 400,000 students.

But millions of public school employees elsewhere in the country are legally prohibited from doing the same.

Labor unions, including the ones that represent teachers and others who work in schools, use strikes or work stoppages to draw attention to working conditions they believe are untenable. In Los Angeles Unified, cafeteria workers, instructional aides, custodians, and other school workers are demanding a 30 percent pay raise, arguing that their average annual salary of $25,000 is woefully insufficient.

But in 37 states, what the Los Angeles employees plan to do would be illegal, due to laws that ban public sector strikes. Penalties for breaking these laws include fines, termination, and even jail time.

Education researcher Melissa Arnold Lyon has compiled a list of states prohibiting public employee strikes, drawing on federal and state sources and existing research. The list includes some states with a history of political and popular support for labor.

These state laws don’t always prevent strikes from taking place.

In 2021, more than a dozen bus drivers in the Greenville, Miss., schools stopped working for two days to argue for pay raises, even though state law has explicitly banned school workers from striking in the state since 1985. Lawmakers enacted that measure after nearly 10,000 teachers defied a court order and went on strike earlier that year; some strikers even briefly landed in jail.

In 2018, thousands of West Virginia teachers walked out to demand higher wages even though the state prohibits public employee strikes. That burst of activism helped spur the “Red for Ed” movement, inspiring labor actions among teachers in other states.

Most workers see strikes as an undesirable last resort after they fail to make progress with other forms of negotiating. But some want the option they don’t currently have. Lawmakers in at least one state, Massachusetts, are currently considering a bill that would loosen the ban on K-12 school strikes. Teachers in at least five districts there have gone on strike in the last year.

Strikes have taken in place in at least six K-12 school districts this year, including three in states where strikes are illegal, according to the Labor Action Tracker from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. In Hastings, Minn., 35 school cafeteria workers have been on strike for nearly a month and a half.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Rethinking STEM Assessment: Strategies for Administrators
School and district leaders will explore strategies to enhance STEM assessment practices across their district, within schools and classrooms.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Federal Webinar Keeping Up with the Trump Administration's Latest K-12 Moves: Subscriber-Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
Artificial Intelligence Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: Math & Technology: Finding the Recipe for Student Success
How should we balance AI & math instruction? Join our discussion on preparing future-ready students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion For Principals, Emotional Intelligence Is More Than Just Being ‘Nice’
Emotions are contagious. When leaders struggle, the school environment does, too.
Marc Brackett, James Floman & Robin Stern
5 min read
Juggling emotions control concept, businessman juggling emotions icons and mood control, mindfulness and psychology, techniques and techniques for managing anger
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion How Can Principals Grow the Next Generation of Teachers? Listen to My Student
Here’s what made this high schooler want to become a public school teacher.
S. Kambar Khoshaba & Mina Etemadi
4 min read
Conceptual image of growing the next generation of teachers from students.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management How Los Angeles Schools Are Responding to the ICE Raids and Protests
The school year in Los Angeles is ending amid immigration raids, protests, and the activation of National Guard troops and Marines.
4 min read
Los Angeles police officers with batons and riot gear attempt to move back protesters in downtown Los Angeles on June 9, 2025.
Los Angeles police officers with batons and riot gear attempt to move back protesters in downtown Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district's police force planned to set up "perimeters of safety" around graduation ceremonies this week amid immigration raids in the city, protests, and the activation of National Guard troops and Marines.
Eric Thayer/AP
School & District Management Download How to Boost Teacher Morale: A Guide for District Leaders (DOWNLOADABLE)
Our discussion guide for district leaders has three takeaways about teachers' attitudes toward their job. Use it to jump start PD with your team.
1 min read
A leader meets with their team. Superintendents, principals, schools leaders, district maps.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva