Teachers: Back to School, Bitterly

Teachers in Detroit and—barring a last-minute contract rejection by union members—New York agreed last week to go back to work. They won salary increases, broke through a few barriers on educational policy. But mostly they demonstrated their new political clout —and left more than a little bitterness in the wake of their walkouts.

Some 11,000 Detroit teachers, including 6,400 members of the American Federation of Teachers, will get raises of $850 annually for two years, work one week less a year, enjoy a bigger voice in textbook selection and curriculum changes. They also won a 30-child limit...