Last year, teachers in red states including West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona took part in strikes, refusing to return to work until they were offered pay raises and better working conditions. They received a wave of resistance love. In West Virginia, the typical teacher earned $45,000. In Oklahoma, a decade of tax cuts resulted in four-day school weeks and crumbling textbooks. Good on them for calling Republican state governments out on their all-but-starvation of resources for the next generation!
But anyone who thought this was a red-state-bad, blue-state-good issue wasn't paying enough attention. As teachers in Los Angeles strike for their fourth day, many of the same concerns are emerging as flash points.