Charter schools see as many as one in four teachers leave annually, and recent evidence attributes much of this turnover to provisions affected by collective bargaining processes and state laws such as salary, benefits, job security, and working hours. There have been many recent efforts to improve teacher voice in charter schools (Kahlenberg…

A year ago at ASBO International's Annual Meeting and Expo in Seattle, Washington, school business officials from four states presented a powerful double-session panel on the status of changes in teacher contracts and educational funding in their regions of the country. The presenters have since updated their comments with new information and…

State-level battles over changes in education policy have shifted in many places from legislative chambers to courthouses, as unions and other critics of new laws challenge them on the grounds that they violate state constitutions and worker contracts. Republican governors and lawmakers--their ranks bolstered by the 2010 elections--won passage…

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to satisfy today's claimants in the here and now at the expense of long-term concerns. Teacher pensions, in particular, pose two challenges. The first is that political incentives invite irresponsible fiscal stewardship, as public officials make outsized short-term commitments to…

Although states have maintained a focus on recruiting and retaining teachers, many schools and districts still face daunting challenges in ensuring a qualified and competent teaching corps. It is particularly difficult for schools considered hard to staff-those with high concentrations of low-performing, low-income students; high teacher turnover;…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effects of two dispute resolution procedures--fact-finding and compulsory final-offer, issue-by-issue interest arbitration--on teachers' wages, fringe benefits, and language provisions. New Jersey uses fact-finding dispute resolution, in which a recommendation for settlement is submitted to…

In compliance with Public Law 2002, Chapter 27, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education collects and summarizes data regarding part-time instructional staff at the state's public colleges and universities. This study found that the average course load and compensation of adjunct faculty in each semester differed both within and among the…