Principal Skinner cuts back on funding for school supplies, cafeteria food, and instructors' salaries. Enraged at his penny-pinching, Mrs. Krabappel rallies support from her fellow teachers and warns Skinner that a strike is imminent. Taking advantage of their discord, Bart manipulates both parties, hoping to close down the school.

Bart succeeds, and the teachers go on strike. Suddenly the students have too much free time. Lisa experiences education withdrawal symptoms. Even Bart shows signs of strange behavior. Marge sets out to reopen the school and organizes a PTA meeting. However, both sides refuse to resolve their differences. Left with little choice, the PTA replaces striking teachers with ordinary citizens.

Marge is called on to teach Bart's class. When Jimbo and Kearney single Bart out for retaliation, Bart devises a strategy tro reunite Skinner and Krabappel, trapping them in a room together and locking the door. The school reopens after Skinner and Krabappel reconcile, deciding to lease classroom closet space to overcrowded prisons in order to raise enough capital to increase teachers' salaries.