In this brief, we set out to understand how unionization may or may not shape practices central to charter schools' ability to serve students. The study, an exploratory one, includes 29 interviews across eight schools that unionized four to six years ago. Our results point to areas of concern, optimism, and future research. We found: (1)…

For fiscal year 2010, Congress appropriated $14.5 billion for Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), which funds services to students in schools with high concentrations of students from low-income families. Title I, Part A includes several fiscal requirements, which are designed to prevent local school…

This study of negotiated wage determination among teachers in Ohio school districts finds evidence of pattern bargaining. A measure of pattern following is developed to investigate wage level in a given county. Pattern bargaining occurs, irrespective of district size over the 1987 to 1991 period. Wealthier districts and larger districts pay higher…

Analysis of data on collective bargaining outcomes in Pennsylvania schools (1983-89) showed that the higher the median level of teacher tenure in a district, the greater the pay gap between high- and low-tenured teachers. (SK)

A salary-schedule compression is the process of reducing the number of salary schedule steps while still giving annual salary increases. Explains what school districts can do during negotiations to compress a schedule without awarding greater increases than originally intended. A sidebar shows a table for relating years of teaching experience to…

A 20-year study indicated that educational salaries at all levels have continuously declined relative to the average weekly earnings in Australia. Possible explanations are the role of government, the national teachers' union policy toward different payment systems, and the cultural attitude toward intellectual endeavor. (JOW)

Evidence for this paper is based on the application of cross-section wage level and change regressions to national samples of teachers in determining the impact of unionization on teacher salaries. The findings contradict most of the previous empirical research (supporting a weak union paradigm and finding only marginal wage effects for…

Examines effects of prevailing wage laws on school construction costs, using final cost data from six British Columbia school districts. When controlling for factors such as construction business cycle, number of competitors, and school type, there was no significant unit cost change following the Skill Development and Fair Wage Policy Act.…

Changes in the labor market in the last 20 years are evaluated in order to examine the impact of teacher unionization, the extent of teacher mobility and responsiveness to wage differentials, and the projected demand for teachers from 1980 to 2000. Using cross-section wage regressions and wage change regressions, the study shows that the…

Although teacher unions promote private means of resolving labor conflicts instead of using public courts, they are engaged in a war on privatization, especially contracting out. It is surprising that the media and higher education take seriously the contention that unions do not negatively affect educational achievement. Advocates of "the…

Leading-edge states, districts, and unions are beginning to implement knowledge- and skills-based pay systems for teachers. PRAXIS and other performance assessment tools are described, along with sample assessment and salary schedule combinations. Effective principal leadership and yearly bonuses between $1,500 and $3,000 ensure sufficient…

Analyzes racial and public policy implications of establishing, within a new desegregated metropolitan school district, a uniform salary schedule for teachers who formerly worked for eleven independent school districts located in the same county. (Author/GC)

While serving as the primary vehicle for reporting the results of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) annual survey of state departments of education, this report also relies on several other data sources. Data include national average salaries or earnings for teachers, other school employees, government workers, and professional employees…

The National Commission on Excellence in Education found mathematics and science programs to be deteriorating and saw an existing shortage of qualified teachers of these subjects. Many of the Commission's solutions are expected to meet with resistance from the Reagan administration and from teachers' unions. (MLF)

In the three years that the Pinellas County, Florida, district has offered its more than 7,800 teachers a performance bonus as mandated by the state, exactly two have qualified and taken home the money. To get a paycheck topped up by 5 percent, Pinellas teachers are required to have had a hand in helping students raise their test scores by 120…