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…

A survey of 202 Massachusetts union leaders received 94 responses indicating that women are overrepresented as union secretaries and underrepresented as presidents. They rarely chair grievance or negotiation committees. Both male and female leaders would like to see more women leaders, but males felt that women's issues were adequately represented…

This report is designed to assist school administrators and school boards to prepare for negotiating issues relating to class size. It includes a brief summary of the research on class size, adapted from ERS's report Class Size: A Summary of Research. Viewpoints of both school management leaders and teacher organization leaders on negotiating the…

This agreement is entered into by and between the Board of Trustees of State Colleges of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Lowell State College Faculty Federation, AFT Local 2174, AFL-CIO, as the exclusive collective bargaining agent for faculty members in the bargaining unit. Articles of the agreement cover: recognition and definitions,…

This report serves as a model of collective negotiations and the community college system. An overview of negotiations in public education is offered, as well as a discussion of the history of faculty organization and the resulting negotiations at Massasoit Community College. Two specific problems arise in negotiations: the recognition of the…

This publication reports and analyzes provisions of a representative sample of negotiated agreements between school boards and administrative bargaining units. The study was based on an analysis of the provisions found in sample contracts supplied by 100 selected school systems. This report analyzes 103 different types of contractual provisions…