By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. – The teacher strike craze is continuing to spread across Illinois like a prairie wildfire, causing thousands of children to lose precious hours of instruction time due to adult labor disagreements.

Teachers went on strike today in the Prairie Grove school district after six hours of discussion with a federal mediator failed to produce a settlement, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune. Approximately 1,000 K-8 students are affected, the news report said.

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This is the fourth teachers strike during the brand new school year in Illinois. The first was the Chicago Teachers Union strike in September which made national headlines. That strike was followed in rapid succession by teacher walkouts in the Lake Forest and Evergreen Park school districts.

Illinois remains one of only a handful of states that still allow legal teacher strikes. A total of 37 states have banned them.