Louisville Schools to Close Tuesday for 4th “Sickout” Strike in 2 Weeks

Kentucky teachers protest at the State Capitol (Louisville Courier-Journal)

On Tuesday, schools in the Louisville-area Jefferson County Public School district will be closed once again as teachers will once again engage in a “sickout” strike.

In a late night message sent to parents from the Jefferson County Public Schools, the school district announced that “Due to approximately a third of teachers being absent and the inability to safely cover a large number of classes with substitute teachers, all JCPS schools will be closed Tuesday, March 12, 2019”.

The “sickout” strike marks the 4th time in two weeks that teachers in Kentucky will call out in sick in order to protest anti-teacher union bills being pushed by Republican Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

The strike comes in defiance of a deal struck between the leaders of areas’ teachers’ union and the Jefferson County School District to keep schools open on Tuesday so that students could take the ACT.

With strong rank-and-file support for the teachers’ sickouts, many expect that the “sickout” strikes will continue throughout the month while the state legislature stays in session.

Area parents have also rallied behind the teachers, providing encouragement for them to keep schools shut down.

“I called my daughter’s school and told them she wouldn’t be attending tomorrow in support of the teachers, and the office told me that she will need a [doctors] note. I informed them that she would not be bringing in one but I will excuse her absence with a parent note” wrote parent Kris Mattingly in the facebook group #JCPSFamiliesSickout


“They stated that she should be at school and that it will reflect poorly on her. She is a straight A+ student who hates missing school but she is the one who came to me and asked if she could stay home to support her teachers” wrote Mattingly. “She feels strongly about the subject matter because she has always wanted to be a teacher so who am I tell her no”.

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About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. In addition to filing nearly 2,000 stories from 46 states, Elk traveled with Lula from Sáo Bernando do Campos all the way to the Oval Office in the White House. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and works frequently in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended college at PUC-Rio. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburghese fluently. His email is [email protected]

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