If a Teacher Strike Comes, Will Boulder Learn Denver's 1994 Lesson?

Back in the spring, I pointed you to some important discussion about the Boulder teacher “sickout”. A month ago I mentioned how the collective bargaining contract with the school district, and teachers voted to reject the latest offer.

Well, earlier this week, the Boulder Valley Education Association filed official notice with the state that the union intends to strike. Sure, as my friend Ben DeGrow pointed out, that doesn’t necessarily mean a strike will happen soon or even happen at all.

But another large Colorado local union went down a similar path 15 years ago during the state’s last teachers strike. So will the parties involved learn the lessons of the 1994 Denver walkout (PDF), or perhaps even take the opportunity to promote reforms in the way teachers are paid? Click the play button below to listen to my Education Policy Center friends discuss those issues and more on a new iVoices podcast:

The opportunity to promote real reform is a tempting one. At the least, though, here’s hoping for the sake of the kids, their families, and all citizens of the Boulder Valley School District, that this dispute gets resolved reasonably and fairly before picket lines start appearing around schools.