This paper identifies those factors that led to American Association of University Professors (AAUP) representation at the nation's oldest degree-granting Historically Black College University (HBCU). In the span of 18 months, Lincoln Faculty overwhelmingly embraced unionism when the body agreed to have AAUP as its official agent in the collective…

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…

Operating as the center of student life, college unions have a central role to teach citizenship, social responsibility, and leadership. Unions can serve as locations for education and conversations about sustainability, as well as for organizations operationally and programmatically engaged in sustainable practices. In this chapter, the authors…

Charter schools see as many as one in four teachers leave annually, and recent evidence attributes much of this turnover to provisions affected by collective bargaining processes and state laws such as salary, benefits, job security, and working hours. There have been many recent efforts to improve teacher voice in charter schools (Kahlenberg…

Professional educators--whether in the classroom, library, counseling center, or anywhere in between--share one overarching goal: seeing all students succeed in school and life. In this regular feature, the work of professional educators is explored--not just their accomplishments, but also their challenges--so that the lessons they have learned…

Philadelphia has a rich history of high school student activism, stretching back to 1967, when 3,500 Philadelphia students walked out of their schools, marched to the Board of Education, and demanded the addition of black history courses taught by black teachers, the removal of police from high schools, and an increase in the hiring of black…

Fueled by declining revenue from the housing crisis, skyrocketing energy costs, and an economy in general disarray, the public is pressuring school administrators to make broader and deeper cuts in their operating budgets. As the baby boomers retire, put their houses on the market, and downsize, one will see more downward price pressure on home…

Every day, 14 retired teachers and other school employees arrive at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers' headquarters and go to work for Hillary Rodham Clinton. The retirees--working with volunteers and union staff members from as far away as Alaska--are working to inform teachers' union members why the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)…

This paper documents Pittsburgh's transformation from a typical, adversarial district-union dynamic to one of deep, substantive collaboration over the course of several years. This work has catapulted Pittsburgh to the vanguard of efforts to improve teacher effectiveness, and helped secure more than $80 million in philanthropic and federal grants.…

Arlene C. Ackerman, who took the helm of Philadelphia's public schools a little more than a year ago, is pushing for changes that would upend how teachers are paid and assigned to schools. The veteran urban superintendent is battling tradition in the 167,000-student system, but insists that increasing the effectiveness of the city's nearly 10,700…

After years of tense relations between teachers' unions and the growing charter school movement, unions are stepping up their efforts to organize educators at the independent public schools. So far, the results of the increased organizing activity-which stretches from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania to California appear modest. But it remains to be…

Teachers' unions around the country have shifted into high gear in the countdown to the presidential election next week, and nowhere is the fervor more evident than in the battleground states. In Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, affiliates of the National Education Association and the…

Of the cadre of non-educators--business leaders, military men, government officials, lawyers--who have been called on to transform large urban school districts in recent years, Paul Vallas has been at it the longest and, in the minds of many, is the one with the best track record. Since 1995, he has tackled the third- and eighth-largest districts…

Will the digital-learning movement repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement? How much more successful might today's charter universe look if yesterday's proponents had focused on the policies and practices needed to ensure its quality, freedom, and resources over the long term? What mistakes might have been avoided? Damaging scandals…

The Wilkinsburg (Pennsylvania) School Board's decision to hire Alternative Public Schools, a private company, to manage a failing elementary school has alienated the teacher union and many town residents. If teachers lose their court challenge, Turner School will become the only U.S. public school to be both privately staffed and managed. (MLH)