This study examines school leaders' implementation of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) negotiated between teachers' unions and school district administration. Using interviews with school leaders and drawing on a structure-agency perspective, the research highlights the interplay between school leader decision-making, union power, and…

Trust and fairness are essential components in building strong, positive relationships with union representatives. Although negotiating contracts with faculty and employee unions can be challenging, it's easier and less contentious when the two sides approach the process not as adversaries, but as partners in improving education. Even with strong…

This case study offers an organizational perspective on the ways in which a collective bargaining agreement shaped the administrative functioning of schools within an urban district. The data demonstrate how rational choice assumptions failed to account for the everyday site interactions between principals and teachers. Using complexity theory as…

District-level directors, principals, and human resource personnel can bring important viewpoints and information in assisting the school board and superintendent during the teacher negotiations process. Unfolding in this case study are the myriad pressures brought forth to the key players in the process, the negotiating process of interest-based…

For nearly two decades teachers unions and charter schools have defined the major points of conflict over school reform, forming an "us vs. them" narrative that pits one against the other. By design, charter schools are free from many state and district regulations--including collective bargaining agreements. And when students enroll in…

It started with a cup of coffee. In the wake of an intense contract negotiation, and against the backdrop of a district bankruptcy, multiple teacher strikes, and a wave of mistrust that veterans of the era still refer to as "rock bottom," the San José superintendent and the San José Teachers Association president decided to chart a…

In the wake of an intense contract negotiation, and against the backdrop of a district bankruptcy, multiple teacher strikes, and a wave of mistrust that veterans of the era still refer to as "rock bottom," the San José superintendent and the San José Teachers Association president decided to chart a different path forward. This report is…

This dissertation reports the results of a qualitative and quantitative research project that examined the perceptions of fifteen participants, in three separate school districts, concerning interest-based and traditional collective bargaining. The study focused on the relationships between administrators and teachers, as well as the financial…

When California legislators passed the California Charter School Act of 1992, it allowed parents the choice of sending their children to public charter schools, places where teachers would have more autonomy and where schools faced exemptions from state education codes and from collective bargaining contracts. Hope Charter School (a pseudonym;…

In Canada, the statutes governing public school teachers' collective bargaining are a combination of the provincial Labour Relations Act or Code and the respective provincial Education/School/Public Schools Act. As education is within the provincial, not federal, domain of legal responsibility, the specifics of each act or code can vary.…

In this policy brief the author shows that contracts negotiated by local teachers' unions and district administrations allow for more flexibility than conventional views suggest. CBAs (collective bargaining agreements) are quite varied in their contents, and many school boards and unions have used the flexibility inherent in contract negotiations…

In this article, I have conceptualized union-management relations using an organizational justice framework. I consider organizational justice theory, including distributive, procedural, interactional, and what I call relational justice perspectives. Utilizing examples from my experience and research, I illustrate and discuss various forms of…

Background: School leaders argue that to make the improvements in both quality and equity that government mandates demand, they need more flexibility with regard to personnel management--specifically, teacher assignment. According to some, such flexibility is constrained by collective bargaining between teachers unions and school districts.…

This manual is designed for California Teachers Association (CTA) members who are serving on Certificated Employees Councils (CEC) or chapter negotiating teams. It concentrates almost entirely on the organization, role, and function of the CEC or negotiating team and describes a system of collective negotiations. The sections of the manual are:…