Contributors Eric Blanc ( EB ) Jane McAlevey ( JM )

On March 29, the threat of a looming strike forced Oklahoma’s Republican state government to concede a $400 million funding bill granting a historic teacher pay raise of $6,000. Inspired by the example of West Virginia, Oklahoman educators nevertheless decided to push forward with their strike. But two weeks of striking proved insufficient to force an intransigent Republican government to concede to the educators’ demands for increased school funding. Schools reopened this Monday.

As education struggles continue to spread across the US — from Arizona to Colorado to North Carolina — there is an urgent need to learn from the experiences of both Oklahoma and West Virginia. Jacobin’s Eric Blanc sat down with organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey to discuss some of the major strategic lessons of these recent strikes.