In September 2012, the Shaler Area Teachers Union declared a strike, shuttering the schools district wide. In 1997, the Shaler Area Teachers union also declared a strike against the District. 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 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. 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.