New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's decision to close at least 19 schools in the city has not been well received. An unprecedented number of schools were slated for “phase-out” in late 2009 by the Department of Education—a gradual closing that takes several years while a school stops accepting new students. Thousands of teachers, parents and students throughout the city have responded by turning anger into action.

Contract lecturers at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti are fighting a hostile administration over the right for part-time adjunct lecturers to join the lecturers' union. They're part of one-third of teachers not on the tenure track nationally who've been on the job at least five years but are treated like short-term employees just seeking "a little money and a nice experience," as EMU's union-busting lawyer put it.

Four hundred education activists joined the Caucus of Rank and File Educators in January to map strategy for battling the next round of school closures in Chicago. CORE's also vying for control of the Chicago Teachers Union this spring.

After an exuberant opening of 2009, the year brought mostly bad news for workers and the labor movement. As always, though, some soldiered on, creating the stories of courage and resistance to inspire the rest of us.