although no school districts were shuttered. Courts ordered the teachers back into the classroom, but hundreds of teachers still stayed out—some for several weeks. February 1968 statewide strike The September spot-strikes galvanized public opinion into supporting the changes the teachers demanded. Gov. Kirk called a special session of the legislature in January 1968. In a bipartisan effort, legislators raised taxes to expand state funding for school building and to pay for higher teacher salaries. Gov. Kirk signed the tax and funding package immediately. But most teachers felt the increases were not enough, and a statewide strike occurred. A special convention of the FEA voted to approve a resolution which condemned the increases as inadequate. In February 1968, FEA president Jane Arnold said the state association would support local teachers if they walked off the job. Thousands did. Since strikes were illegal, what actually happened were mass resignations. Schools closed in roughly two-thirds of Florida's counties. Many individual schools closed in those districts which managed to remain open and functioning. At the height of the strike, 25,712 educators—about 40 percent of the state's teachers—walked out. The impact of the strike was not uniform, however. Strikes lasted only a few days in some districts, while in others teachers walked picket lines for weeks. In Pinellas County, the local education association stayed out for six weeks, and some small groups of teachers struck for as long as three months. Gov. Kirk and the legislature stood firm, however, and refused to appropriate more money or raise taxes further. Local school districts began taking action to break the strike. Arnold and other FEA leaders were threatened with arrest. Tornillo was fined $30,000 and given a two-year jail term (which, after appeal, he was not forced to serve). School districts hired substitute teachers as strikebreakers, and local businesses paid their employees to teach classes. Most teachers went back after only a few weeks, when it became clear that public support for the teachers, weak at the beginning of the strike, had shrunk dramatically. We thought they (the public) would be with us,' Arnold said. 'We thought it would unite the community and the teachers. It did a little bit of the opposite. ... A lot of teachers lost their innocence. They thought the community liked them. Local education associations began to negotiate their own settlements, often agreeing to not challenge school districts for terminating the most