Teachers' unions are rarely seen as hands-on school reformers, but the Tom Mooney Institute for Teacher & Union Leadership thinks they should be, and is trying to get a new generation of local union leaders ready for such roles. The institute is an offshoot of the 13-year-old Teachers Union Reform Network of NEA and AFT Locals, or TURN, which…

The National Education Association is poised for a change in leadership this year as its president of six years, Reg Weaver, bumps up against term limits. Now, speculation is widespread that Edward J. McElroy, his counterpart at the American Federation of Teachers, might not seek re-election in July. The possible exit of Mr. McElroy--and the…

Denver's performance-pay system for teachers has long been hailed as a model, in good part because it was jointly conceived and implemented by the school district and the local teachers' union. However, that collaborative spirit is now in jeopardy, with union and district leaders engaged in a protracted battle over proposed changes to the system.…

Teachers' unions around the country have shifted into high gear in the countdown to the presidential election next week, and nowhere is the fervor more evident than in the battleground states. In Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, affiliates of the National Education Association and the…

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last September 2006 to take up the issue of when a teachers' union may spend the money it collects in the form of "agency fees" from nonmembers on political causes. The justices said they would review a Washington state law that requires nonmembers to "affirmatively consent," or opt in, before a…

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has lost several of its most prominent leaders over the past decade. It has struggled with scandals at major locals. An internal survey showed low morale among its own employees. The union itself insists it is still very much on the path blazed by Albert Shanker, the AFT's late, legendary president, under…

An agreement announced last week allowing local National Education Association unions to affiliate with the AFL-CIO signals that the NEA is willing to tighten ranks with the rest of the American labor movement in the face of formidable economic and political changes. Once, leaders of the 2.8 million-member teachers' union may have believe they had…

A decade has passed since a few union leaders formed the network known as Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) to search for innovative ways to enhance education. Selling their message has not always been easy. Created in 1995, TURN was the brain child of Adam Urbanski, the president of the Rochester (N.Y.) Teachers Association for the past 25…

The school district in Anne Arundel County, Md., this spring entered into what appears to be a unique contract with the local teachers' union over struggling Annapolis High School: Teachers will work year-round and make a commitment to stay at the school for three years. Designed by Superintendent Kevin Maxwell to fend off a state takeover, the…

This article describes when teachers in Detroit, Michigan and Gary, Indiana went on strike in September 2006, which have resulted in the closure or relocation of 35 schools to other campuses since the end of the 2004-05 school year. The 2006-07 school year has brought with it a fresh wave of labor unrest, as teachers in districts large and small…

The three-story building that was once the United Teachers of New Orleans' office is dark and deserted, the first floor damaged by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters. The union membership, which numbered 4,700 before the storm, is now down to 300. Of the 25 schools that are now open in New Orleans, only five are regular public schools. The rest are…