As teacher strikes swept across the country this year, union leaders in many cities painted charter schools as the enemy. But the narrative that pits charter schools against unions largely ignores the fact that district teachers aren’t the only ones walking off the job; charter school teachers in Chicago and Los Angeles went on strike earlier this year, too.
This report examines national and local trends in charter unionization, describes the reasons charter school teachers unionize, and analyzes charter school bargaining agreements.