Posted on by Mikhail

Strikes Close Schools but Do Not Put Students First

As this post was originally published Evergreen Public Schools was in the third week of a strike that had closed schools. Families were already well past the point of improvising schedules. Students were missing instructional time that no one seriously believes will be fully recovered later.

Meals were still being served. Some extracurriculars, including sports, continued in limited form. But the basic structure families rely on, school as daily childcare, stability, routine, was gone. That absence landed unevenly.

A local community member mentioned in their post on facebook how two single moms on their street were scrambling to find daycare they could afford. Not for enrichment, just for coverage and survival. That stuck with me more than the press releases did, or the cheary facebook posts on both sides of the strike, predominantly on the union side.

Both the district and the union continued to say the same thing: this strike is “for the students.”

I wanted to believe that. I still want to believe that. But wanting something to be true is not the same as it actually being true.

What Research Shows (or at least what it suggests, imperfectly)

When people say strikes ultimately help students, I find myself asking a very basic question. What happens after the strike ends? Not what is promised. Not what is hoped for. What actually shows up in the data a few years later.

Large studies examining U.S. teacher and staff strikes between 2007 and 2023 are fairly consistent on one point. Strikes tend to deliver financial gains for employees. Compensation increases average around eight percent. Sometimes student-to-teacher ratios improve slightly. Planning time expands. Committees get formed.

Those outcomes matter. I’m not dismissing them.

What is harder to find is evidence that student academic outcomes improve in any durable way. Across multiple studies, achievement gains are minimal or statistically insignificant, even several years out. One year later. Three years later. Five years later. The needle largely stays where it was.

That surprised me. I expected at least some measurable payoff for students. I wanted that connection to be clearer than it is.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics summarizes it bluntly. Strikes may result in higher pay and additional resources, but student learning outcomes remain essentially unchanged. Education Week reports something similar. Per-pupil spending often increases after a strike, by about $670 on average, yet test scores do not reliably follow.

None of this proves that improving working conditions is bad for students. It does suggest that the relationship is not automatic, and certainly not immediate, especially when students lose weeks of instruction in the process.

A Note on International Evidence

There is also international research that complicates the story further. In Argentina, repeated school closures due to strikes were associated with lower educational attainment and reduced lifetime earnings for affected students.

We are not Argentina. The U.S. context is different. The labor laws are different, so are the school systems.

Still, it is hard to ignore the underlying pattern. Prolonged disruption during formative years carries long shadows, even when intentions are good.

Closer to Home: Oregon and Washington

In November 2023, Portland Public Schools experienced its first-ever teachers strike. It lasted 11 instructional days. The settlement included a 13.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment, additional planning time, and new oversight committees around class size.

What it did not include were enforceable class size caps.

A year later, there is no clear evidence that student academic outcomes improved as a result of those lost days. That doesn’t mean the settlement failed. It does mean the claim that the disruption was “for the students” remains unproven.

Evergreen Public Schools is now in uncharted territory. Classified staff have been on strike for weeks. Teachers are honoring picket lines. The school board has authorized legal action, citing Washington law, which prohibits public employee strikes. Bargaining continued. Resolution does not. (Eventually it did.)

Superintendent Christine Moloney, appointed permanently earlier this year, was overseeing negotiations that have not produce an agreement. Meanwhile, families waited.

What Some Parents Were Saying

Inside the Evergreen Public Schools Community Facebook group, which has more than 2,200 members, many posts frame the strike positively.

One shared a rally video with the caption:

“Evergreen PSE members are on strike! Until we win fair pay and respect, we’ll keep standing strong.”

Another post echoed a common union message:

“Our fight is not against students or families. It’s for them. Livable wages and fair working conditions mean we can attract and retain the staff our kids deserve.”

I don’t doubt the sincerity behind these statements. Not for a minute. They reflect a belief that valuing staff today builds stronger schools tomorrow. TRUE.

What gives me pause is how often that belief is asserted as fact, rather than treated as a claim that still needs to be proven, especially when students are not in classrooms right when strikes happen.

Who Benefits, and Who Pays the Price

Strikes tend to deliver tangible benefits for adults. Higher pay. Better working conditions. Sometimes additional staffing commitments. These outcomes are real, and they matter.

The cost, however, is consistently borne by students and families. Lost instructional time. Disrupted routines. Increased childcare expenses. Stress that compounds differently depending on income, flexibility, and support networks.

Across studies and case examples, the most reliable outcome of prolonged strikes is not improved learning. It is disruption.

Where That Leaves Me

When district leaders and unions say, “This is for the students,” I struggle with the certainty of that claim.

The data does not clearly support it. What the data does show is that strikes are effective labor tools. They shift budgets. They raise wages. They change adult working conditions.

Students, meanwhile, absorb the interruption.

That does not make strikes immoral. It does make the rhetoric around them feel incomplete. If students are truly the priority, then outcomes tied directly to student learning should be central, enforceable, and non-negotiable. Not implied. Not deferred.

Until that happens, families are being asked to accept real harm during the strikes and in a long term in exchange for promised benefits later. Many are no longer in a position to keep doing that.

A Call to Action

Parents and community members still have agency.

Write physical letters to the Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors and to Superintendent Christine Moloney. Handwritten letters stack up in ways emails do not.

Ask for a public town hall where families can speak directly about how this strike is affecting them, without filtering or slogans.

Push for commitments that are explicitly tied to student outcomes. Smaller classes with enforceable caps. Adequate support staff. Clear timelines for returning students to school.

Our students deserve more than rhetoric. They deserve decisions that keep them at the center, not just in the talking points.

Copy-and-Paste Letter Template

YourNameYour Name
YourAddressYour Address
City,State,ZIPCity, State, ZIP
DateDate

Evergreen Public Schools Board of Directors
Dr. Christine Moloney, Superintendent
Administrative Service Center
13501 NE 28th Street
Vancouver, WA 98682

Dear Dr. Moloney,

I am writing as a community member who cares deeply about the long-term academic success and well-being of Evergreen students. The recent disruptions have highlighted something many families have felt for a long time: when the system strains, students are the ones who absorb the consequences first.

I am not writing to revisit the circumstances that led us here, but to propose constructive changes that directly support student outcomes going forward.

If our shared goal is better grades, stronger learning, and a more resilient educational system, then the focus must move beyond process and toward measurable impact in classrooms and schools.

I respectfully urge Evergreen Public Schools to prioritize the following areas:

First, commit to academic outcomes that are explicit and trackable. Smaller class sizes should not be aspirational language but enforceable standards, especially in early grades and high-need classrooms. Research and lived experience both show that students learn more effectively when teachers can give meaningful, individualized attention.

Second, strengthen and stabilize support staffing. Counselors, paraeducators, classified staff, and intervention specialists are not supplemental. They are essential to student success, particularly for students facing learning gaps, behavioral challenges, or external stressors. Adequate staffing ratios and retention plans for these roles should be treated as academic priorities, not secondary considerations.

Third, invest in instructional quality alongside compensation. Professional development tied to evidence-based instructional practices, curriculum alignment, and classroom support must be sustained and practical, not episodic. Teachers and staff need time, tools, and support that translate directly into stronger instruction and student performance.

Fourth, improve transparency and accountability around progress. Families should be able to see how decisions connect to outcomes. Clear timelines, public benchmarks, and regular reporting on student learning recovery, attendance, and achievement would help rebuild trust and shared ownership across the community.

Finally, create structured opportunities for parent and community input that go beyond crisis response. Ongoing dialogue, not just during moments of conflict, is essential for a system that is adaptive, responsive, and grounded in student needs.

Evergreen has dedicated educators, staff, and families who want the same thing: students who are supported, challenged, and able to thrive. Progress will depend on aligning labor decisions, resource allocation, and system reforms with that goal in ways that are concrete and visible.

Thank you for your leadership and for considering these proposals. I hope they can serve as a starting point for continued collaboration focused squarely on students and the quality of education they receive every day.

Sincerely,
YourFullNameYour Full Name
Parent / Community Member

References

(These sources inform the analysis but do not, on their own, resolve the question of how labor actions should balance adult working conditions and student impact.)

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