A recent survey of 41 different state boards of education revealed that officials from 28 states indicate that they are experiencing teacher shortages. The shortages in some states are significant. While the teacher shortage in many states is tied to different factors, one frequently cited reason for leaving the teaching profession is low pay.…

This article examines the legal and political significance of teacher unionization in rural and suburban school districts between 1960 and 1975. While most historians focus on the growth of unions in urban areas, strikes in outlying districts played a determinative role in the development of public sector labor law, particularly in the arbitration…

As school closures are increasingly used as a remedy to budget woes and a solution to failing schools in many cities, debates are intensifying about their effect on student performance and well-being, on district finances, and on communities and the processes districts use to choose which schools will be shuttered. Student and parent groups in…

This article presents the author's views about the school district deconstruction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He discusses his 30-year experience as a principal and central office administrator with the School District of Philadelphia and his involvement in the efforts to lead urban school reform in the country. He also describes the reform…

Uses tables to present data on teacher strikes in Pennsylvania since the passage of Act 195 in 1970. Includes data on the number of employees affected by strikes, the average number of employee strike days, the number of students affected by strikes, and the number of idle employee-days caused by strikes. (IRT)

Discusses judicial interpretations of Pennsylvania's Public Employee Relations Act which created the right of public school teachers to strike. (JF)

Discusses the experience of the Philadelphia School Board with the Public Employee Relations Act which permits public school teacher strikes. (JF)

One of the drafters of the Public Employee Relations Act discusses Pennsylvania's experience with the new right to strike clause in the Act. (EA)

Discusses some of the reasoning behind instigation of the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act which permits public school teacher strikes. (JF)

Investigates the bargaining effects of the decisions made by school boards in Pennsylvania whether to reschedule teacher strike days to qualify for state aid. Hypothesizes that strikes are more likely to occur in districts where teachers expect strike days to be rescheduled. (JOW)

Once as familiar in the back-to-school ritual as falling leaves, teacher strikes seem headed for a winter freeze. According to the nation's largest teacher's union, about 15 of the National Education Association's (NEA) 14,000 local affiliates have gone on strike since the start of this school year. In Pennsylvania--a traditional union…

This study discusses faculty attitudes toward collective bargaining, including collective negotiations, sanctions, and withholding of faculty services. The purpose was to determine whether faculty members' perceptions of their capacities for power and mobility were related to their expression of relatively favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward…

In Pennsylvania, the legal duty to reimburse a school district is based on the days of instruction provided by a district and payment only for the actual number of instruction days up to 180. The Department of Education presumes that, during a teacher strike, no days of instruction are being provided. However, should a school board notify the…

An experimental group of 34 Pennsylvania school districts that had experienced a strike were matched with a control group of 34 nonstrike districts. Statistical analyses of grades five, eight, and 11 revealed significant strike effects in grade five scores of self-esteem, mathematics, and interest in school and learning. (MLF)