Teachers' unions are under unprecedented bipartisan attack. The drumbeat is relentless, from governors in Wisconsin and Ohio to the film directors of "Waiting for 'Superman'" and "The Lottery"; from new lobbying groups like Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst and Wall Street's Democrats for Education Reform to political columnists such as Jonathan Alter…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed in February 2009, included nearly $100 billion in new funding for the Department of Education (DOE). Over $36 billion of it remains unspent, and bills in both the House and Senate are calling for even more funding for teacher jobs. It is unlikely that billions more in federal spending will…

To discover how teachers feel about a bonus program designed to give stipends to teachers with few absences, the author surveyed teachers in two elementary schools, one an urban school with a heterogeneous student body and the other suburban and homogeneous. By using a questionnaire, information was gathered on (1) standard demographic…

This publication is the complete transcription of a weekly radio program devoted to contemporary issues in American education. This particular program consisted of an informal debate on various educational issues between Terry Herndon, executive director of the National Education Association (NEA), and Albert Shanker, president of the American…

For today's public school teachers, unlike most professionals, years employed rather than performance determines where they work, how much they are paid, and whether they can be fired. To achieve professionalism teachers will need to jettison the tactics of industrial-style unionism in favor of organizations more like the medieval guilds. (MLF)

Trust agreements are cooperative arrangements supported by the school district and teachers' union leadership to promote local educational reforms. The ability of trust agreements to establish local professional cultures that support innovative teaching in California is examined in this paper. Included are: (1) an outline of the logic that links…

A 1972-73 study found a negative correlation between collective bargaining and teacher salary levels in Wisconsin. Replication of the study in 1979-80 indicated that collective negotiations had no significant effect on salaries or on fringe benefits and that socioeconomic factors were of highest significance. (PGD)

A discussion is presented on the feasibility of developing and encouraging more profit-making private schools. The point is made that there are structural obstacles to improvement and reform in the public schools: (1) teacher unions are strong and primarily interested in teacher benefits, not student welfare; (2) state and federal regulation…

This report focuses on social protections of teachers in Europe, synthesizes responses to a questionnaire by 18 European members of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP), and provides an overview of a variety of situations in European countries. The report includes a list of organizations/countries which…

Data from 66 Iowa school districts with collective bargaining and 66 without collective bargaining were compared to determine if they differed in teacher salaries, fringe benefits, or provisions for leaves of absence. The time period covered extended from 1975-76 school year, 1 year before collective bargaining started, to 1979-80, the fourth year…

Using data from Rhode Island, this study investigated the extent to which teacher unions have won control gains, but not economic gains, at the bargaining table. (Author/PN)

Analyzes the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision in "Scotch Plains" regarding binding arbitration procedures in collective bargaining agreements to settle disputes over the withholding of salary increments. Discusses the events leading up to the case and comments on possible future directions for such cases. (54 footnotes) (MLF)

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 chapter summarizes recent state supreme court and federal court decisions involving collective bargaining for employees of public educational institutions. The cases discussed are generally limited to those decided during 1975 and reported in the General Digest as of March 1976. In his discussion, the author attempts to integrate related…

This paper reports a survey of the attitudes of school personnel toward teacher unions and draws some implications concerning the dynamics of labor relations in school systems. Teachers, principals, superintendents, and school board members responded to questions on what areas unions should be involved in, degree of satisfaction with the local,…