This publication offers guidance to school-board members, superintendents, and district staff in the planning, implementation, and rebuilding phases of a faculty or staff strike. It is intended to be used before a strike is imminent so that a strike plan can be implemented and the effects during and after a strike can be mitigated. The handbook…

Board members weary of smoke-filled rooms, midnight strike deadlines, and bad-faith bargaining charges might appreciate a South Dakota school district's bargaining formula for positive, productive contract talks.The keys are trust and willingness to listen; guiding principles include philosophical agreement on common goals and school finances,…

At the national level, factors that may discourage teacher strikes include the availability of revenues and the greater "sophistication" of negotiators. Highlights legislation proposed in Pennsylvania that sets a timetable for negotiations and puts restrictions on when teachers can call a strike. (MLF)

An assessment is provided of the current status of faculty collective bargaining in community colleges. First, relevant terms are defined to explain the counting process used in deriving the findings. Next, several observations are made about possible reasons that community college collective bargaining has received little attention from the…

School boards need to be prepared to deal with potential disasters. Four districts whose school board presidents dealt with serious emergencies are described. The emergencies included the murder of a superintendent, a flood, a statewide teacher walkout, and the threat of financial collapse. (MD)

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…

The nature of education collective bargaining laws has not changed significantly since the movement reached a peak in the late 1960's. The District of Columbia and 31 states have laws providing bargaining rights to elementary-secondary teachers; 24 states provide bargaining rights to postsecondary faculty; 9 states permit teacher organizations to…

A high school senior found that no one appeared concerned about the effect of a teachers' strike on students. Some students organized against the strike while maintaining a neutral stance. Urges board members to work harder to avoid a breakdown in negotiations. (MLF)

School boards in contract negotiations with teachers' unions can expect demands for fewer hours in the classroom, higher salaries, and better health care to dominate the talks. In addition, teachers will demand more training and support in dealing with students with disabilities, especially medically fragile children. (MLF)

A strike by teachers in the David Douglas School District of suburban Portland, Oregon, in 1978 lasted only a week and was unsuccessful in obtaining contract concessions. This document describes how the district's administration, board, building principals, and public relations specialist cooperated as a team to limit the strike's effects. Key…

This comprehensive guide to the procedures and techniques of collective bargaining contains information on all phases of negotiations: the process, the players, preparation, face-to-face bargaining, impasse resolution procedures, and contract administration. It is predicated on the view that school board members and administrators should master…

This document proposes a model for the administrative involvement necessary to the negotiation of effective labor contracts in the schools. A historical analysis of laws, statutes, and significant court cases provides insight into the present scope, complexity, and limitations of collective bargaining in the schools of Washington State. Trends in…

This publication is a status report on faculty contracts and bargaining agents in higher education in the United States for 1991. An introduction summarizes activity across the nation including agents elected, independent agents, decertification, strikes, legislation, first contracts signed, and demographic analysis. A table of faculty contracts…

This handbook is designed to serve as a guide to help school boards understand collective bargaining and the labor-management relationships in their districts. Chapter 1 describes what school-board members need to know. Chapter 2 discusses some of the political and legal realities that school boards face in the collective-bargaining process.…

Guidelines are given to school board members and administrators on using advocacy communications in dealing with teachers' strikes. Strikes are described as staged media events and extensions of the collective bargaining process. An educational association's "game plan" is outlined which summarizes the five central themes used by most…