Teacher union strike In April 2014, the Shamokin Area Education Association (teachers' union) voted to authorize a strike. The date of the labor action was not set. The Union and School Board are engaged in contract negotiations. Shamokin Area School Board members indicate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will cause an anticipated 12 to 15 percent increase to health insurance costs for teachers. Under the current costs of the teacher benefits, the district will be hit by the PPACA's 40% excise tax due to the high cost of the teachers' health insurance plan. Of nearly 140 teacher strikes that occurred nationally between 2000 and 2007, 60 percent took place in Pennsylvania, according to a report released in August 2012, by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Pennsylvania is one of 13 states in which teacher strikes are legal. Pennsylvania has the highest rate of teacher strikes in the United States. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there were three teacher union strikes in 2010; one teacher union strike in 2011, one teacher union strike in 2012 and three teacher union strikes in 2013. Wyoming Area School District and Danville Area School District both went on strike in the spring of 2014. State law gives the Pennsylvania Department of Education the power to order the teachers to return so that students will complete 180 days of school by June 15.