Most of the faculty decide to strike, leaving Joe scrambling for substitutes when he refuses to shut the school down, while Sara's and Harry's relationship is put to the test when they wind up on opposite sides of the picket line. Meanwhile, Harry and Jack face additional stress when Harry's ex-wife, Chris, sues him for custody of Max and Nicole, and Jack has a fender bender with Mary Caitlin, who doesn't have insurance.

An angry Joe holds a parent/teacher meeting, because 30% of the students are terminal truants. Unfortunately, most of the parents take after their kids. Matthew assumes he's lost Roz when he sees her skipping school. With Harry's case not going well, Sara offers up the services of her attorney ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey, whom Harry can't stand. Sara gets stuck with an incompetent, irascible, middle-aged student helper, Margo Bleiweiss, whose idea of teaching is to throw things at the class. A social services guy, O'Connor, fills Joe in on how one of the truants only shows up on days when he has to have a welfare form signed. Matthew tracks Roz down at her new job as a diner waitress to persuade her to come back, but Roz says her mother needs the extra cash. A student is killed after getting hit by a car during school hours, prompting Joe to look for a way to force the parents to get their spawn to stop playing hooky. O'Connor's comment gives Joe an idea -- stop signing all the truants' welf

A female student accuses a male professor of rape, Sara and Harry break up, Matthew mourns the loss of his Uncle Louie, and Roz is mocked by others for taking a stand against dissecting frogs.