Reflections on the Education Spring

Spring 2018 produced a flowering of militancy in the US education system. Alongside the more publicised student-led movement over gun laws there were also unprecedented educator walkouts and protests in predominantly Republican states (leading to the coining of ‘Red for Ed’) over pay, pensions and other conditions. Many of these strikes were in defiance of state laws against public sector strikes, with workers organising outside official union structures, often over Facebook, and which sought and often received wider community solidarity.

In this interview Andrew Stone, a London teacher and trade unionist, speaks to Lois Weiner about this impressive movement. Lois is a socialist and former teacher and teacher educator who has written widely on education for www.newpolitics.org, has written influential books such as Urban Teaching: the Essentials and The Future of Our Schools, and who maintains www.teachersolidarity.com.

Interview filmed by Chester Yang who recently won Best Documentary at the Madrid Film Festival.