The reason teachers want collective bargaining is far simpler than has heretofore been recognized by scholars. In de jure collective bargaining, agreements arrived at in the bargaining process are legal and binding on both parties. In de facto negotiation, agreements could be struck between the teachers and the board of education, but, when…

Spells out some tough guidelines for keeping school boards in charge of public schools. Suggests including in contracts a strong management rights clause, a no-strike clause, cancellation of all bargaining rights during the term of the contract, and specific and detailed restrictions on grievance procedures. (Author/JM)

Discusses the resolve necessary to keep the schools open during a strike and the detailed planning necessary to carry out that resolve. (Author/IRT)

Attitudes of four groups of professional educators are compared respecting the role of the superintendent in collective negotiations. The AFT sees him as head of the opposition's negotiating team. The NEA sees him as a member of the professional staff and as a neutral catalyst providing resource information while teacher representatives negotiate…

THE USES OF TEACHER POWER IN INFLUENCING THE WORK CONDITIONS, REWARDS, AND ACTIVITIES OF TEACHERS ARE DISCUSSED. THE STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, AND APPROPRIATE USES OF VARIOUS TACTICS FOR THE EXERCISE OF THIS POWER ARE DESCRIBED. PARTICULAR ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO SANCTIONS, STRIKES, INJUNCTIONS, AND MASS RESIGNATIONS. PICKETING, SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS,…

In preparing to discuss the roles of administrators, board members, and the negotiator in school collective bargaining, the author lists his "tried and true" principles and outlines the differences between bargaining in the public and private sectors. An important difference between the two kinds of bargaining is that school board…

If a school board member with teacher union sympathies is leaking critical information to the union during bargaining, changes in negotiations procedures must be made to prevent the spy from being privy to confidential information. (Author/JM)

Describes the successful efforts of the school board in a small Tennessee community to reverse teachers' initial enthusiasm for forming a union. (Author/WD)

One of the biggest errors that boards of education make in collective bargaining concerns the selection of their bargaining team. A negotiator should be used who knows labor law, understands the educational process and its common practices, and is knowledgeable about school law. In addition to the negotiator, who should be the spokesman, the…

This is the 19th in a continuing series of kit-booklets issued to help school boards develop written policies in key areas. The intent in providing samples is to encourage thinking in policy terms; and to provide working papers to be edited, modified or adapted to meet local requirements. The negotiation subtopics covered in the samples include…

Outlines some courses of action open to school boards of "broke" districts when they participate in collective bargaining. (IRT)

Based on doctoral research on the possible relationship between board involvement in contract talks and increased labor strikes, advises school boards to avoid involvement in contract negotiations. (MLF)

The literature on collective bargaining in public education typically argues whether such bargaining is good public policy or bad, sound or unsound, and so forth. No studies to date have measured the actual impact of differing kinds of collective bargaining legislation on local school boards' decisionmaking powers. This study examined whether two…