Backers of the common-core academic standards have worked for years to secure the support of a diverse collection of elected officials, academic scholars, and school employees. Now they're ramping up efforts to court a different and potentially critically important audience: parents. A number of national organizations are churning out written and…

The purpose of this report is to describe what the authors learned from studying eight teacher career advancement initiatives implemented across a variety of contexts, including urban, suburban, and rural districts; high poverty and affluent districts; and in schools/districts both with and without strong union presence. They describe key…

The president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten, is putting the sensitive issue of due process on the education reform table, with a pledge to work with districts to streamline the often-cumbersome procedures for dismissing teachers who fail to improve their performance after receiving help and support. She has also…

THIS STUDY REPORTS THE FINDINGS FROM AN NEA RESEARCH DIVISION SURVEY OF GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS WITH ENROLLMENTS OF 12,000 OR MORE FOR THE 1965-66 SCHOOL YEAR. THE STUDY IS LIMITED TO FORMAL PROCEDURES USED FOR PROCESSING THE GRIEVANCES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS. INFORMATION FOR THE REPORT WAS OBTAINED FROM QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES…

This article discusses the corrupt leadership of two big-city teachers' unions, the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) and its Miami cousin, United Teachers of Dade (UTD), that took both unions to the brink of despair and financial ruin. While the feds were rifling through union files to build extensive criminal investigations, congress called Sandra…

A GRIEVANCE IS A CHARGE THAT A POLICY AFFECTING WORKING CONDITIONS IS INADEQUATE OR HAS BEEN VIOLATED. TEACHER GRIEVANCE COMPLAINTS ARE PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH TEACHING LOAD, CLASS SIZE, PROMOTION, FACILITIES, SALARIES, AND TEACHER EVALUATION. GRIEVANCES USUALLY OCCUR IN A STRATIFIED EMPLOYMENT SETTING AND RESULT FROM POOR FORMULATION OR…

Considerable attention has been paid to the most blatant barriers that public charter schools face. By lobbying against good charter legislation and fair funding, financing anti-charter studies and propaganda, filing lawsuits, and engaging the public battle of ideas, teacher unions and other charter opponents openly wage what might be called an…

COLLECTIVE NEGOTIATION BY MAJOR PERSONNEL IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IS DISCUSSED PRIMARILY FROM THE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT'S VIEWPOINT. SINCE WORLD WAR II, SCHOOL STAFFS HAVE INCREASINGLY DEMANDED A CHANGE IN THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HORIZONTAL CONCEPT OF EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITY. THIS DEMAND IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE INCREASING…

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION ARE INCREASINGLY VITAL ISSUES FOR COLLECTIVE NEGOTIATION BETWEEN TEACHERS AND SUPERVISORS AND THEIR SCHOOL BOARDS. THIS DOCUMENT SUGGESTS GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVELY DEVELOPING A POSITIVE APPROACH TO THE RESOLUTION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS IN THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS SO THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE LEARNING…

This is the second annual report from the National Charter School Research Project (NCSRP) at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education. Like last year's debut edition of Hopes, Fears, & Reality, the 2006 volume explores some of the most current and controversial issues facing the charter school movement. This…

THIS 19TH ANNUAL SALARY SURVEY OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (AFT) LISTS TEACHERS' SALARIES AND BENEFITS PAID BY OVER 600 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN ALL 50 STATES AND IN THE 50 LARGEST CITIES DURING 1967-68. THE SIZE OF EACH DISTRICT, SALARY BY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, INSURANCE PAID BY EACH DISTRICT, AND THE NUMBER OF STEPS BETWEEN MINIMUM AND…

A SPECIAL COMMITTEE INVESTIGATED EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS IN BALTIMORE RELATED TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE INNER CITY. OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE AT 24 SCHOOLS IN THE INNER CITY, THE OUTER EDGES OF THE CITY, AND THE INTERMEDIATE AREAS. MOST OF THE PROBLEMS WERE ROOTED IN THE SLUMS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF PUPILS ARE NEGRO, TEACHERS ARE UNDERPAID, BUILDINGS ARE…