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Submitted by Dave Hanke
Director of Bands at Slinger High School
Slinger Education Association
Dave Hanke was one of the 84 striking teachers
who were fired by the Hortonville School Board in 1974.
I can clearly remember the morning of March 19, 1974.
I was driving from my apartment in Oshkosh to my job as a high school band director in Hortonville. I knew this was going to be a very different day because the Hortonville Education Association had recently voted for a work stoppage because of a contract dispute with the school board. Never in a million years would I have imagined what I saw as I came into town that morning.
There was sign across Main Street that read, “Teachers Go Home.” As I drove past Hortonville High School, I saw 150 police officers from the surrounding counties in full riot gear with plexiglass face shields, billy clubs, and weapons.
This was my first year of teaching and I remember thinking, “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
I can also clearly remember the Hortonville Vigilantes lined up across the street from the school. They were carrying chains and baseball bats and they all had that look on their faces, that if they could have at us, our lives would be in danger.
As I walked that picket line the first day, I remember thinking, "How could this all have happened? How is it possible for educated people, for a school board whose job it is to provide the best education possible for children, to have marked the line so clearly that there couldn’t be a solution?"
I’m not sure any of us, on that first day, would have imagined what was about to happen.
As the days went on, and the replacement teachers were brought in, we began to realize that our school would never be the same. There were kids opening up the windows and yelling obscenities at teachers as we walked the picket line. We realized that the school board had taken a hard stance and that the community completely supported its board. The battle was going to be long and hard-fought, and no matter what the outcome, everyone involved in this strike was going to lose.
As teachers, we felt a strong need to take a stand against the board. We were given an ultimatum and that ultimatum just wasn’t acceptable. We were backed into a corner, and I realized quickly there wasn’t ever going to be an acceptable solution.
I felt bad for my students. I had a great relationship with most of them. I truly believed that those kids supported what I had done. When the replacement teachers came in, some of my students began bringing my personal items out of my office. I knew that those kids were being used as pawns. I knew that there was no way that those replacement teachers were ever going to be as dedicated to those kids as we were.
And yet, it was important to take that stand. There comes a time in your life when you have to have enough personal pride to say, “enough is enough.”
I knew that financially we were all going to be hurt. We were all wondering, “How are we going to live? How are we going to pay our rent or our house payments? How do we feed our children?”
There was another facet to this strike that most people don’t know about. I have never been in a situation before where people hated us just because we were teachers. Most of those people didn’t even know me, but they hated me simply because I was a teacher in their district. We had members of our faculty who were asked to not worship at churches that they had worshipped at for years. We had members of our faculty who were members of the Volunteer Fire Department, Lions Club, golf club, and many other organizations. Those memberships were denied, not because they were bad people, but because they were teachers. Neighbors wouldn’t talk to teachers who had lived next door to them for 20 years. We were scorned in our own community.
I felt bad personally because this was my first teaching job and I had no clue about negotiations, contracts and labor relations. I think I was probably in shock, but I sincerely had heartfelt sorrow for my colleagues who made their homes in Hortonville, because they lost everything.
I could tell you war stories about those days. Every day in Hortonville was like going to war. We were getting arrested regularly. As the strike went on, things got worse. The vigilantes became more active. We had teachers who had guns pulled on them and were threatened on a daily basis as they walked from strike headquarters to the school.
We picketed regularly because we needed to keep our cause at the forefront. The battle lines had been drawn, and now wasn’t the time to back down.
What surprised me more than the activities in Hortonville was the way people in other communities viewed our plight. In my home town, there were people who wouldn’t talk to my parents just because I was a teacher in Hortonville. I’ve heard stories of similar things happening to other teachers. You couldn’t open up a paper without having every detail of every day's happenings being reported. The TV coverage was extensive. The strike was telecast across the country. Hortonville was national news.
Things continued to get uglier than anyone could have ever imagined. As time went on, some of us left Hortonville and attempted to get on with our lives. I had personally applied for more than 100 jobs. I got two replies and one interview. Was I being blackballed because of my participation in the strike? It sure seemed that way.
Out of the 84 teachers who were fired, I believe only four of us eventually ended up getting teaching positions. It took me three years before I found a place that would take a chance on hiring “one of those people.” I was fortunate. I landed on my feet. I found a good job in a good and caring community where respect for education, children and teachers is solid.
However, Hortonville is still scarred by that strike. The kids who went to that high school were severely hurt by what happened during that time. The school board took a hard-line stance, and I guess you could say it won the battle. But no one really won the war.
Every person who had anything to do with that awful situation will always carry the stigma of “Hortonville.” It’s not ever going to go away. Many of the scabs who took our jobs are still teaching in Hortonville. Why? Perhaps they can’t get a job any place else. After all, who would want to hire a person who has so little respect for others in the same profession that they would willingly take a job from someone who was doing battle for all teachers.
I’ve learned a lot these past 25 years. I’ve learned about the importance of working together to solve problems. I’ve learned that if you do what is best for kids, usually it’s also best for us. I’ve learned that sometimes you have to stand up for what is right, even though it may negatively affect you as an individual. I’ve learned the importance of personal integrity and pride in your profession.
The strike was an awful experience and yet good things came about as the result of that strike. SB15 -- the new bargaining law that incorporated mediation and arbitration to peacefully resolve disputes -- was instituted as a result of that strike. There are many teachers who put their careers on the line so that we could have a better and more effective bargaining law.
I also know that the battle continues even today. Unfortunately, we again have a law on the books that does not allow for fair bargaining. As teachers, we are singled out once again, not because we’re bad people, but because we are teachers. I find that disturbing, and believe it or not, I see some of the same attitudes toward teachers coming from our legislators.
There were many Hortonville teachers who put their teaching careers on the line so that we could all benefit. I’m hoping we can remain strong and that we can all have the courage to fight this next battle.
I’ve done a lot of soul searching these past few days as I’ve thought about those days 25 years ago. I’d never want to go back and live them again, and yet, I’m extremely proud of my colleagues who had the heart and the courage to stand up and do something, when others may not have had the will to do so.
As bad as that time was, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. There were teachers from all over the country who stood beside us on the picket lines, who supported us, who offered words of encouragement when there seemed to be nothing to be encouraged about.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve seen a growth in unity and pride in our profession. I am as proud to stand with my colleagues at Slinger as I was with my friends in Hortonville. My hope is that we all continue the vigilance that is necessary to achieve cooperation and teamwork between our school boards and our communities. If we can do that, everyone wins.
The bottom line is that we can never allow another Hortonville to take place in Wisconsin.
Posted March 26, 1999