Saying that teachers have a constitutional right to protest legislation that affects teaching and that the 'sickouts' - a tactic that has been used by protesting teachers in a number of states to force school closures through coordinated simultaneous use of sick days by teachers - that rocked Jefferson County Schools six times during the 2019 legislative session are legal, Kentucky's new governor Andy Beshear has overturned the position taken by his predecessor Matt Bevin.
The move, reported by the Courrior-Journal, came just as 2019 rolled into 2020 and was based off the determination that sickouts were being used to protest legislation, not to impact negotiations between an employer and its employees. Protests, rather than strikes, qualify under Kentucky law as protected speech, the current administration contends. Beshear won the governorship in a hotly contested election in part because of his support of the teacher's sickouts and Bevin's known opposition to educator's demands for improved education funding and supports, illustrating the important roll that worker actions can still play in politics and winning worker protections.
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