I'm a teacher in trump country Northwest Iowa. Our district has 3 consistent subs. Teacher turnover is absurdly high. The entire English, science, and social studies teaching staff could potentially be gone next year.
The reddit teaching sub is regularly filled with complaints about: pay, hours, increased responsibility, lack of support, and rising class sizes. That's not even mentioning the lack of any COVID response from schools. My district has an "optional mask" policy. No one wears a mask.
How do we organize teachers to act now? If half the high school went on strike, we would not be able to open due to lack of subs. Yet whenever I even hint at something like that, it's met with pessimism and looking at other districts like the grass is greener.
My local union boasts about being buddies with admin. They secured like a 1% raise last year, not even close to inflation.
Is there anything to do? Or are teachers forced to suffer in increasingly terrible conditions until we burn out and quit or retire?
For some more context, striking is illegal for teachers in Iowa. You get fined $500/day, can be fired, and potentially jailed for half a year. But realistically, if a whole district or a large chunk of the state strikes, would that be enforced? Especially with the teacher shortage?
Or maybe something more local like a signed staff letter saying if demands aren't met they will resign?
Labor rights in this country are so fucked.