As a result of declining enrollment and newly instituted limitations on property taxes resulting from passage of Proposition 2 1/2, school districts in Massachusetts have been forced to reduce the size of their teaching staffs. The Massachusetts Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights sought to determine what steps were being…

The use of seniority in current school layoff and transfer practices and the impact of seniority provisions on school operations are examined in this paper. The data for the study came from two sources: interviews with teachers, principals, union leaders, and district administrators in four school districts (drawn from a national sample) facing…

This report is an initial effort to provide systematic information on teacher contracts in Massachusetts. In 1999, the Pioneer Institute solicited copies of the current contract from all districts in the state. Forty districts were selected to reflect the makeup of the Commonwealth. This study confirms that teacher compensation is determined by…

In response to declining enrollments, some local school districts are using performance criteria to determine the order of teacher layoffs. The difficulties of implementing this practice are illustrated by the experiences of four Massachusetts school districts. Interviews with principals reveal the adverse impact upon teacher-principal relations…