Remember the 2018 teachers strikes in Republican-led states that captured the attention of the country?

The Red For Ed — or #RedForEd — movement started when West Virginia teachers who were tired of working for low pay and in resource-starved schools walked out of class even though such labor action is illegal in the state. The teachers started the strikes, and their unions followed.

Teachers in other red states saw what was happening and decided to do something exceedingly rare — stand up for themselves — and went on strike too, in Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado and other places, and managed to win financial concessions from state legislators.

Now, in three of those states, Republican-led legislatures are retaliating by trying to pass bills that would make teachers’ working lives more difficult.

Here’s what’s happening:

West Virginia

More than 22,000 teachers walked out en masse on Feb. 22, 2018, closing schools in every county for the first time in nearly 30 years. They demanded higher pay and lower health care costs in a place where many teachers have had to take second jobs to pay their bills.

With the state ranking 48th in average teacher salaries in 2016, according to National Education Association data, legislators finally agreed to a 5 percent pay raise — less than the teachers were seeking — while offering no promise on relief for health care costs. The teachers returned to class March 7.

West Virginia legislators are taking steps teachers strongly oppose. In a budget bill the legislature is fast-tracking, teacher raises and funding for the health care system for state employees would be tied to provisions including:

Increasing class sizes.

Denying pay during future strikes.

Support for “school choice” in the form of charter schools and a program to use public money for private and religious-school education.

Oklahoma

Teachers walked out April 2 demanding higher pay and more resources for schools in a state where tax cuts have slashed public spending on education. They returned to class 10 days later after winning raises and additional school funding, but did not win everything they wanted. Some teachers opposed ending the strike.

Now, bills in the legislature seek to ensure that teachers never strike again.

S.B. 592 would require any organized protest of 100 or more people at the state Capitol to pay $50,000 in advance to the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority, the state agency that provides bond funding for government office buildings.

H.B. 2214 would make it illegal for any “board of education or school district employee ... to strike or threaten to strike or otherwise close schools or interfere with school operations as a means of resolving differences with the board of education, the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the legislature or any other public official or public body.”

Arizona

Teachers walked out for five days starting April 26, demanding pay raises and more money for support staff and for public schools. They also sought smaller classes. They won a 19 percent raise over several years but did not get most other demands.

Here’s what’s happening now:

A bill in the Arizona House, H.B. 2002, would require the State Board of Education to adopt a “code of ethics” for teachers that calls for an explicit ban on politics in public schools. The language is nearly identical to a proposed code advanced by the ultraconservative David Horowitz Freedom Center.

Another bill, H.B. 2017, is aimed at preventing another strike and prohibits public schools from shutting down except for approved breaks, holidays or a national or environmental emergency. An accompanying bill would require the state’s attorney general to investigate a school district or employee accused of violating state law.