Tenure is under fire. Conservatives have long attacked such policies as tenure that constrain the ability of managers to fire whomever they want, but the latest assaults on tenure have invoked liberal egalitarian ideals. With all the problems in education, why are we so fixated on teacher tenure? What is really going on? How did tenure get its…

Defined Benefit pension plans often generate odd time patterns of benefits. One typical pattern exhibits low accrual in early years, accelerating in mid-late years, followed by dramatic decline, or even negative returns in years that are relatively young for retirement. We consider four states for specific analysis: Arkansas, Missouri, California…

A study of Massachusetts teacher contracts and interviews with educators in four districts indicated several factors that can affect the impact of applying seniority agreements when laying off teachers. These factors include the size of the layoff unit, bumping rights, prerequisites for teaching in a second field, and reassignment prerogatives.…

Discusses the "Right-to-Know Laws" passed since 1980 that protect employees from hazardous materials in the work place. Outlines Massachusets' law and the employee training materials developed for use by schools in that state. (MD)

The views of teachers and principals in Massachusetts on early retirement and other issues associated with reduction-in-force policies were sampled and analyzed. Alternatives to layoffs, methods of evaluating teacher performance fairly, and use of seniority as a criterion for retention are discussed. (PP)

The use of seniority in current school layoff and transfer practices and the impact of seniority provisions on school operations are examined in this paper. The data for the study came from two sources: interviews with teachers, principals, union leaders, and district administrators in four school districts (drawn from a national sample) facing…

A questionnaire survey of 1,506 teachers in 89 elementary and secondary schools in eastern Massachusetts examined teachers' reactions to declining enrollments and school district retrenchment policies. The hypotheses tested suggest that, in districts whose reduction-in-force (RIF) policies include performance evaluations as well as seniority as…

A study explored teacher responses to prevailing staff reduction criteria and procedures during a period of widespread layoffs. Questions asked by researchers included: (1) If performance evaluations are used, will teachers seek participation in staff employment and assessment decisions? and (2) Will teachers pressure administrators to apply…

Adjustments that state policy-makers and institutions of higher education will need to make as they face cutbacks in public support and declining enrollments are described, based in part on a research project on retrenchment in higher education conducted by the Southern Regional Education Board. Given the long-term contractual obligations of…

Massachusetts's Chapter 622 and U.S. Title IX regulations both prohibit discrimination by educational institutions. This guide is designed to assist administrators, particularly in Massachusetts, in complying fully with the spirit and letter of these regulations. The guide is divided into thirteen chapters, seven of which use parallel format to…

A methodological approach to tenure planning is illustrated in this study that examines the tenure characteristics of a research-oriented institution vis-a-vis other research universities and its own intramural schools and departments. Cross-sectional comparisons and time series projections are made to indicate the relative tenure position of an…

As faculty and other public sector unions become more sophisticated in collective bargaining, they tend to lay a greater variety of demands on the table. This, in turn, forces the employer to ask, Do I really have to bargain about these subjects? As more employers refuse to bargain, more unions charge them with failing to bargain in good faith,…

Discusses substantive and procedural restraints, including legal pitfalls, due process, and no-layoff clauses, within which public employers must decide questions of reduction in workforce (RIF). Describes elements of a sound RIF policy and considers ways of using the collective bargaining process to facilitate the RIF process. (JBM)

Collective bargaining in higher education and a few other fields is examined in 21 papers from a 1986 conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. After an introduction by Joel M. Douglas, the academic collective bargaining system is reexamined in four papers. Additional papers…

The chief factors in State administration of public education are the State board, the State superintendent, and the professional staff of the State departments of education. Several valuable studies have been made of the State board and the State superintendent. It is the purpose of the present study to supplement these with an investigation of…