A THIRD OF ALL AMERICAN TEACHING EMPLOYEES IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION ARE COVERED BY SOME FORM OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, A SITUATION IN MANY RESPECTS PARALLEL TO THAT FOUND AMONG WORKERS IN THE PRIVATE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR. TEACHER CONTRACTS ARE DISTINGUISHED BY LESS RELIANCE ON SENIORITY, FEWER EMPLOYER PENALTIES, AND FEWER FRINGE BENEFITS, PRIMARILY…

According to Joe A. Stone of the University of Oregon, average students do better in classrooms with unionized teachers, but less able and more able students do not. While this particular assumption lacks empirical clarity, many administrators and school board members feel that it would be much easier to reform public education if teacher unions…

As faculty and other public sector unions become more sophisticated in collective bargaining, they tend to lay a greater variety of demands on the table. This, in turn, forces the employer to ask, Do I really have to bargain about these subjects? As more employers refuse to bargain, more unions charge them with failing to bargain in good faith,…