The Pittsburgh Public Schools study is the 12th district study since the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) began studying districts in-depth in 2009. The intent of these studies is to give select communities a comprehensive look at what is happening in their local school districts that may be either helping or hurting teacher quality, and…

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…

In a case involving a somewhat sarcastic elementary teacher, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reversed the state commissioner of education's affirmation of her dismissal based on persistent negligence. Results of teachers' alleged verbal abuse of students depends on the nature of the claim, not just specific evidence. (MLH)

Describes six representative grievances that have arisen in Pennsylvania state colleges since enactment of public employee collective bargaining legislation, focusing on case backgrounds, applicable contract provisions, contentions of opponents, and arbitrators' decisions. The grievances discussed involve termination of employment, tenure,…

The action of the Wilkes College administration to terminate the service of faculty members who served full-time more than seven years, and the tenure policy prior to 1973 were found by the AAUP investigating committee to violate the organization's statement of principles. (LBH)

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…

This paper presents the Pennsylvania edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook". The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…

This Pennsylvania edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…

This collection of collective bargaining agreements contains one- to three-year contracts for four two-year institutions in Pennsylvania. The agreements are between the Board of Trustees of Reading Area Community College and the Federation of Reading Area Community College, Local 3137, American Federation of Teachers bargaining unit; between…

The suspension of Pennsylvania's educational employees due to declining enrollment is examined in this paper. The controversy over whether teacher suspension should be based on seniority or on evaluation criteria has resulted in intervention by the judicial system to establish legal precedents for reduction-in-force policy. Methodology is based on…

Decisions by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education contained in this publication are on appeals made by 33 professional school personnel against actions taken by their school boards. For each case, the employee (appellant) and district (appellee) are cited with a teacher tenure appeal number, the reason for the appeal, findings of fact that…

Collective bargaining agreements between the boards of trustees and faculty associations of nine selected community colleges in Pennsylvania are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1987. Contracts for the following colleges are presented: Community College of Allegheny County; Community College of Philadelphia; Delaware County Community…