The discipline of economics, as it is generally understood, taught, and practised today, is in various ways clearly at odds with authentic Catholic values. Therefore, where economics is taught in Catholic schools, colleges and universities, students should not only become acquainted with orthodox economic ideas; they should also learn how, from a…

The study sought to understand the essence of the lived experiences of principals in labor relations. Labor relations include aspects of collective bargaining, teachers unions, and interactions with teachers from the perspective and experiences of elementary and middle school principals who are also members of their district negotiation team with…

Across the United States, a counter-network of teacher activists is engaged in the development of grassroots organizing structures to advocate for social justice, resist the privatization of public education, and increase union democracy. The United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators (UCORE) is a national network of more than 20 union reform…

Gov. Wolf has indicated his willingness to modify pensions for future Pennsylvania public sector workers by using a variant of the "stacked hybrid" design proposed in 2013 by Pottsville Republican Rep. Mike Tobash. Negotiations of a compromise pension deal, however, remain stalled because Senate leaders remain committed to their own…

This paper explores the potential of feature film to encourage more inclusive, participatory and open learning in the area of employment relations. Evaluations of student responses in a single postgraduate course over a five-year period revealed how feature film could encourage participatory learning processes in which students reexamined their…

Public education today faces a troubling set of challenges, including declining enrollment, staffing shortages, and polarized communities, with school boards at the center of broader political debates. How did we arrive at this current state? This study--described here and, in more detail, in a related report--of seven California school districts…

Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), California's thirteenth largest school district, faces a looming deficit and must make significant budget adjustments to avoid state intervention. This case study explores how the district reached this point, how its finances compare with other districts in Sacramento County, and what the…

This article discusses how to overcome the language and cultural issues of using existing online videos in classroom discussions with nonnative English-speaking groups of students, through student-produced videos given as an authentic educational assignment. Implementation of the assignment and the use of student-produced videos in classroom…

In recent years, rigorous studies have shown that effective public schools are built on strong collaborative relationships between administrators and teachers. The two largest national teachers' unions--the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association--have embarked on major initiatives to promote greater collaboration,…

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on all aspects of lives, including how to teach students. It is clear that the K-12 education system as it was known has changed. The pandemic has stressed each level of the education system: the state education agency (SEA), regional education agencies (REA), local education agencies (LEA), tribal education…

Of late, teachers unions have worked together with district management in new and notable ways. This paper examines the role of teachers unions in shaping the Together Initiative (TI), which seeks to increase autonomy and broaden decision making in urban schools in one northeastern state. In general, state-level union leaders have taken more…

This article is the first study investigating New Zealand's early legislation in apprenticeship from the perspective of historical institutionalism. It shows that, between 1865 and the 1940s, New Zealand's apprenticeship system was less liberal in character than it is today, because a collective skill formation regime, involving dual training, was…

Back in the mid-2000s, in public and in the news media, Joseph P. Burke, then superintendent of the Springfield public schools, and Timothy T. Collins, president of the local teachers' union, often seemed to be at odds with each other. Out of the public eye, however, the two men had begun meeting regularly. When Burke left the district, the work…

The recent decision by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that Northwestern University football players on scholarship are "employees" entitled to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) should serve as a wake-up call for higher education administrators. Part of a trend in which both the NLRB…

Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, the contours of neoliberalism took shape, as individual corporations implemented new strategies seeking to shift the frontier of control in their favor and increase their profits. Their actions began to shape the political and economic practices of both major political parties, and the orientation of…