Teacher strikes ruled unconstitutional THREE TIMES in County Court Article 3 Section 14 of the Pennsylvania State Constitution reads: "The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth" -------------------- STATE LAW In 1970, the state legislature passed Act 195 (Public Employee Relations Act or PERA) which allowed all public employees to collectively bargain and strike. Prior to 1970, teacher strikes were illegal in Pennsylvania.  It was called a "limited right to strike" in PERA because a school board could ask for an injunction to end the strike (section 1003 of PERA). This proved of little effect, as strikes lasted so long in the 1970s and 1980s that numerous children were denied even the basic 180 days of academic instruction required by the school code. In 1992, the state legislature passed Act 88, the current law that governs school strikes.  Act 88 puts in strike-breakers to curb the length of a strike to ensure that children get 180 academic days in the school year.  Strikes can still last up to a month in duration, can still happen multiple times in a school year, and can still happen year-after-year.  Turmoil still occurs in a community as family and student life is negatively affected. Despite the improvement over Act 195, from 1992 to 2005 (under Act 88), Pennsylvania was home to one third of all teacher strikes in the U.S. affecting over 468,000 students.  Pennsylvania still ranks number one in the nation for teacher strikes, with tens of thousands of children affected each year. 1978: Teacher strikes ruled unconstitutional in Butler County Court: In 1978, the Constitutionality of allowing teachers to strike was decided in a Butler County Court. President Judge, George P. Kiester, held two hearings (here and here).  The Hon. Judge Kiester ruled that teacher strikes violate the Constitution. His words stand as a damning indictment to this day: "The issue is whether granting public school teachers the right to strike does erode, fetter, weaken and bargain away a constitutional right of the students and the general public. That is exactly what PERA does." "The right to strike provisions of PERA are in conflict with the constitutional rights of students and the general public" "The welfare of the teacher is subordinate to the welfare of the student."  "Legislation that erodes the fabric of constitutional government in any degree is dangerous" The teachers' union were joined by other labor unions in appealing the Kiester ruling in 1978 to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  The PA Supreme Court vacated the Butler County Court's decision on technical grounds here. 1989: Teacher strikes ruled unconstitutional (again) in Butler County Court: In 1989, the Constitutionality of teacher strikes was again decided in a Butler County Court here. President Judge, John Brydon, ruled that teacher strikes were unconstitutional. The Hon. Judge Brydon's words: "The time has come for the legislature to re-evaluate its entire statutory scheme allowing public school teachers to strike." [20 years later, and still nothing] "A teacher's right to strike is in direct contravention of the constitutional mandate to establish a thorough and efficient system of public education" "Not only is the child's education disrupted by a teacher's strike, but the students must also witness the actions of their teachers outside the classroom while on picket lines. Such conduct often results in tirades of emotion and the role model for the child is shattered." The unions appealed the Brydon ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and in 1991 (one of Chief Justice Cappy's early decisions) the Supreme Court again vacated the ruling on technical grounds here.  There was one dissenter on this ruling. 1990: Teacher strikes ruled unconstitutional in Montgomery County Court: In 1990, parents of strike-affected children in the North Penn School District won a Montgomery County Court decision here declaring teacher strikes to be unconstitutional. President Judge Samuel Salus' words: "...the role that public school teachers play in the maturation of our youth merits that the students educational well-bring be placed above the right to strike for higher wages. The time has come for us to refocus our attention on the rights of the children to be educated." "...for all of the foregoing reasons, we hold that Act 195, inasmuch as it allows strikes by public educators, is unconstitutional." The PA Supreme Court appeal to Judge Salus' ruling came in 1993 and can be read here. As seen, the Supreme Court refused to even consider whether allowing teachers to strike fulfilled the constitutional mandate for a "thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth". They simply bounced the issue back to the state legislature essentially saying it is the legislature's job to decide what is thorough and efficient.  This was a "pass the buck" decision by the PA Supreme Court. If the Judiciary need not consider what is thorough and efficient then why bother having those words in the Constitution?!  The position of StopTeacherStrikes, Inc. In the twenty years that followed teacher unions being granted a so-called "right to strike" in 1970, three separate County Court Judges found this "right" to be a violation of the State Constitution.  The bottom line? The State Supreme Court failed to provide the checks and balances required of the Judiciary, by failing to declare that the simple language of the Pennsylvania Constitution ("thorough and efficient") means that children cannot be allowed to be ejected from their classrooms.  It is therefore incumbent upon the state legislature to correctly interpret the State Constitution.   ----------- WHAT DOES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION SAY? Contrary to the myth perpuated by some union officials and far-left politicians, there is no constitutionally protected right to strike for public employees found in the U.S. Constitution.  The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is not a fundamental or human right.  Dorchy v. Kansas 272 U.S. 306 (1926).  The reason for permitting private employees to strike "does not apply to the government as an employer or to the relations between the government and its employees." U.S. v. United Mine Workers 330 US 258, 272-3 (1947). THE VIEWS OF FORMER PRESIDENTS
	In 1919 Calvin Coolidge, then Governor of Massachusetts, at the time of the celebrated strike of policemen in Boston, issued a statement that "there is no right to strike against the public safety of anybody, anywhere, at any time."
	President Woodrow Wilson characterized the 1919 Boston police strike as "an intolerable crime against civilization."
	In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was a great champion of organized labor, stated in a letter to the National Federation of Federal Employees: "All government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into public service.  Administration officials and employees are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personal matters. Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of government employees.  Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of government activities.  This obligation is paramount.  Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of government until their demands are satisfied.  Such action, looking toward the paralysis of government by those who have sworn to support it is unthinkable and intolerable."  Board of Ed. of M. F. City Sch. Dist. v Ohio Ed.Assn. 235 NE 2d 538, 544, 545 (1967)
	In 1981, President Ronald Reagan addressed 11,000 striking air traffic controllers with the statement: "if they do not report for work within 48 hours they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated."  See video here.