This article examines how teacher collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), teacher salaries, and class sizes changed during the Great Recession. Using a district-level data set of California teacher CBAs that includes measures of subarea contract strength and salaries from 2005-2006 and 2011-2012 tied to district-level longitudinal data, we…

Fundamental to updating a fixed-rate salary schedule for teachers is the reliance on a relevant labor market containing comparisons to other school districts--that is, object school districts, which can be chosen from a policy or empirical/efficiency perspective. As such, four relevant markets having roots in neoclassical economic…

A year ago at ASBO International's Annual Meeting and Expo in Seattle, Washington, school business officials from four states presented a powerful double-session panel on the status of changes in teacher contracts and educational funding in their regions of the country. The presenters have since updated their comments with new information and…

Many districts and schools have trouble recruiting and retaining teachers who have the necessary credentials and skills to meet the needs of their students. This trend is particularly severe in low-income, "high-needs" schools and districts. As such, districts and schools are implementing policies that are intended to reform compensation…

Teachers unions are among the most powerful, yet least studied, actors in public education today. Although public attention focuses on the influence of national unions, the policies that most affect teachers and schooling are bargained by local unions and school boards. Interviews with 30 recently elected local union presidents reveal that these…

In the era of No Child Left Behind, principals are increasingly held accountable for student performance. But are teacher labor agreements giving them enough flexibility to manage effectively? This study answers this question and others. It examines how much flexibility school leaders enjoy on key dimensions of management in America's fifty…

Part-time instructors constitute a growing proportion of community college instructors. They receive no fringe benefits or office space, they are not assigned to faculty committees, and they sign quarter-to-quarter contracts which contain no stipulation of job security, even for the quarter contracted. There are three reasons for hiring part-time…

Collective bargaining agreements between 15 selected community college districts in northern California and their faculty associations are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1987. Contracts for the following colleges and districts are included: Butte Community College District, Cabrillo Community College District, College of the…

Collective bargaining agreements between 14 selected community colleges in southern California and their faculty associations are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1987. Contracts for the following colleges are included: Barstow College, Chaffey College, College of the Sequoias, El Camino College, Glendale Community College, Imperial…