Florida Teachers Strike Case Study

560 Words3 Pages
In 1968, there was a Teacher Strike in Florida. Research the strike. After the strike, there were considerable gains for Florida teachers. Would those gains have been possible w/o the strike? It seems that publically funded education has always been a contentious point for politicians and constituents alike. Questions of funding, teacher evaluations, and concerns about the role government plays in managing public school systems have troubled law makers since public schools came into existence. Many believe that schools are vital for the betterment of society’s youth, but this seems to be the only point people can agree upon. When the education system seems fails teachers are often the first to bear the brunt of the blame. However, the problems of education run deeper than just those elements under the control of teachers. Lack of funding, overcrowded schools, out‐of‐date textbooks, and poor facilities generally plague many failing school systems. These problems became the overriding theme in Florida’s teacher walkout of 1968. The teachers involved in the walkout called for systemic educational reforms that they…show more content…
Urban areas pushed for educational reform, but often found themselves miredin a conflict with the pork chop influenced legislature. In addition, since Florida law required that school districts in the state remain contiguous with county lines, local leaders could not sub‐divide districts to carve out a possible funding problem. Urban areas are generally more progressive than rural areas, and this difference in ideology can be seen throughout the battles over educational funding within Florida. With the educational systeming crisis, the National Educators Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in America, sought to address the problems within
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