nctq invisible ink

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Invisible Ink inCollective Bargaining:

Why Key Issues Are Not Addressed By Emily Cohen, Kate Walsh and RiShawn Biddle

As a number o big school districts around

the country such as San Diego, BrowardCounty, and Philadelphia hammer outnew teacher contracts over the next ewmonths, both sides will no doubt bringlaundry lists o must-haves to thebargaining table. The common assumptionis that the important action happens whendistrict administrators and union represen-tatives sit down at the bargaining table.Yet the reality is that well be ore anyonemeets to negotiate a collective bargainingagreement, many issues will have alreadybeen decided.

State legislators and other state-level poli-cymakers cra ting state laws and regulation,not those bargaining at the local level, de-cide some o the most important rules gov-erning the teaching pro ession. Though theteacher contract still gures prominently onsuch issues as teacher pay and the scheduleo the school day, it is by no means themonolithic authority that many presume itto be. In act, on the most critical issues othe teaching pro ession, the state is the realpowerhouse. State law dictates how o tenteachers must be evaluated, when teacherscan earn tenure, the bene ts theyll receive,and even the rules or ring a teacher.

A recent example out o New York State

illustrates the growing authority o thestate legislature in shaping rules that weretraditionally in the purview o the lo-cal school district. Last year New YorkCity Public Schools sought to changethe process or awarding teachers tenureby actoring in student data. The localteachers union, the United Federation oTeachers protested the districts new policy,not through a local grievance (because theunion, by state law, had no say on tenureissues), but by lobbying state legislatures topass a bill that would e ectively make thedistricts action illegal. 1 Guided by the heavyhand o the state teachers union andthe UFT, the New York State Legislatureblocked New York Citys tenure changes byembedding a provision in the 2008-2009budget that made it illegal to consider ateachers job performance as a factor inthe tenure process .2 The placement o theprovision in the large, unwieldy budgetvirtually assured the union o a win, as ewlegislators or the governor would havebeen prepared to have the budget go downon the basis o a single provision.

Teachers unions are quite aware o theimportance o state legislatures or their

National Council onTeacher Quality

July 2008

1 Cohoes City School Dist. v. Cohoes Teachers Assn., 40 N.Y.2d 774, 390 N.Y.S.2d 53, 54, 358 N.E.2d 878 (1976); see also PatchogMed ord Congress o Teachers v. Patchogue-Med ord Union Free School Dist., 29 PERB 4522 (1996) (the ultimate decision regthe granting or withhold o tenure is not negotiable).

2 New York State Assembly, Bill Text S06807, .


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CollectiveBargaining

mission, as evidenced by examples suchas the one above and certainly their largecontributions to riendly legislators cam-paigns. However, there is little evidencethat they try and dispel the misconceptionsheld by others as to where their power

and infuence reside. Speaking be ore agroup o education re ormers, AmericanFederation o Teachers President RandiWeingarten observed that i collectivebargaining is so bad or schools, thenstudent outcomes should be better in stateswhere there is no collective bargaining, buttheyre not. 3 As we will show (and as Ms.Weingarten surely already knows), stateslacking the right to collectively bargain havesimply substituted the state legislature orthe local bargaining table; in districts withcollective bargaining, the state legislaturestill may serve as a more e cient conduit

or teacher riendly legislation than doesthe local bargaining process.

LESSONS LEARNED BY NCTQ

Several years ago, the National Council onTeacher Quality (NCTQ) began collectingteacher contracts rom all over the countryin order to post them on a single websitewith the goal o creating an easily acces-sible source to learn more about collectivebargaining agreements. We also hoped toencourage others to learn more about thepolicies governing teachers.

In 2007 we launched this new websitecalled TR3 (Teacher Rules, Roles and Rights ).We began with the teacher contracts pulled

rom the 50 largest school districts in theUnited States, as well as other importantdocuments all rom the local level, such aspersonnel handbooks, salary schedules, andschool calendars.

To make these unwieldy documents moreaccessible and clearly understood, wecoded them against nearly 350 uniquecriteria dealing with such topics as class

size requirements, salary, and school sa etyissues. This enables online visitors to easilylocate speci c policies and make compari-sons among districts and states (see Appen-dix or the list o common data).

It was in the process o coding the locallevel documents or the original 50 districtsthat we began to understand that wewere telling only part o the story. We hadexpected to nd a lot o language protect-ing teachers and explicitly reducing thefexibility o schools and administrators,only to nd that the contracts and boardpolicies were silent. There were glaringgaps on issues that we knew teachers careda lot about and would want built into acontract. We began to realize that much o

what seemed to be missing rom local leveldocuments was instead contained in statelaws.

I a mathematical equation can be used todescribe how decisions are made, here wasour thinking be ore we built TR 3:

local school district + teachers union =teacher contract = teacher rules

Hundreds o thousands o pages later, wenow know the equation looks much morelike this:

(state school board + teacher contract)+/- (the courts) +/- (labor relationsboard) +/- (state attorney general)

state legislature

= teacher rules

With the state legislature as the engine,it is the combination o state law, stateregulations (which interpret those laws),the local teacher contracts, and local schoolboard policies (which exist within the

ramework o state law) that determinehow the teacher pro ession is governed.Together, these our authorities serve asa mighty orce. I the legislature enjoys

3 Remarks made at the annual meeting o the New School Venture Fund, Washington, May 20, 2008.


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a riendly relationship with the teachersunion, the result is o ten policies that mayput the protection o current teachers

rst, even when it is not in the best interesto raising teacher quality overall or in theinterest o school children. Cases where

the legislature has an overtly adversarialrelationship with the teachers union areo ten the result o policies that considerthe needs o students and teacher qualityover the interests o current teachers.

With this realization, we recognized theneed to add to the site decisions made atthe state level. TR 3 now contains the statelaws and regulations rom all 50 states thatpertain to teachers. We also added another50 districts so that every state has at least

one school district on the site. Online visi-tors can now retrieve data rom the nations75 largest school districts, in addition to thelargest districts in the 25 least-populatedstates.

WHY WE KNOW SO LITTLEHow can something so undamental asthe preeminent authority o the state be somisunderstood?

First, the media pay little attention toteacher governance issues. Unless thereis a threat o a teacher strike, the mediararely cover the negotiating process or theresulting e ects o these rules on teachers.The occasional bill introduced in thelegislature may get some attention, but

ew have ocused on the outsized infu-ence o the teacher union in statehouses.Richard Colvin o the Hechinger Institute, agroup dedicated to helping reporters writethought ully about education issues, has

long been rustrated by the lack o coverageon collective bargaining. He explains, The

act that parties to one o the most impor-tant negotiations in any community chooseto keep them private doesnt absolve re-porters rom the responsibility to dig and

nd out what both parties are proposingand whether it would contribute or serve

to undermine student achievement. 4

Secondly, at the local level ew involvedin the bargaining process are particularlyeager to engage the media. Neither theschool district nor the teachers union maybe motivated to encourage public involve-ment or interest in the process, especiallyi talks are already brimming with conten-tion. Districts and union leadership o tenmarginalize advocacy groups or the samereasons.

Third, and perhaps most telling, ewscholars have chosen to study collectivebargaining, teachers unions, or even therole o states in public education. In prepa-ration or this paper, we had great di cultyidenti ying any scholar who had studiedthe origin and history o state involvementin public education as a broader issue, andnone who had specialized in issues speci cto teachers. 5 Given the importance o thistopic, write researchers Susan Moore

Johnson and Morgaen Donaldson, surpris-ingly little research is available. They at-tribute the lack o scholarship to the relativesecrecy surrounding contract negotiations. 6

Absent Knowledge, Ideology RulesWith so little coverage and research torely upon, people tend to approach thisissue saddled with their own biases aboutcollective bargaining and, more generallyspeaking, teachers unions. Union advocatesargue that without collective bargaining,

teacher salaries would be lower, teacherswould be summarily dismissed or any

4 Fredrick M. Hess and Martin R. West, A Better Bargain: Overhauling Teacher Collective Bargaining or the 21st Century (WashinAEI Publications, 2006) 20-21. Colvin also produced a pamphlet or journalists entitled From Contracts to Classrooms: CoveringTeachers Unions.

5 An exception is Tracy L. Ste es, Assistant Pro essor o Education and History at Brown University. Dr. Ste ers has written onrole in shaping education policy. Re er to her essay Solving the Rural School Problem: New State Aid, Standards, and SupervisLocal Schools, 19001933. History o Education Quarterly 48 (Spring 2008).

6 Susan Moore Johnson and Morgaen Donaldson, The E ects o Collective Bargaining on Teacher Quality, Collective BargainiEducation, ed. Jane Hannaway and Andrew J. Rotherham (Boston: Harvard Education Press, 2006): 111-140.


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reason, and class sizes would escalate.There is also a presumption that what isgood or teachers is good or students, asexpressed by UFT leader Leo Casey: Theworking conditions o teachers are, in sig-ni cant measures, the learning conditions

o students, and so improvements in thework lives o teachers generally translateinto improvements in the learning condi-tions o students. 7

For their part, union critics castigate collec-tive bargaining or the degree to which itends up protecting incompetent teachersand or opposing e orts to reward merit. 8 Terry Moe, a staunch critic o teachersunions ascribes only sel -interest to unions:Their survival and well-being depend on

their ability to attract members and resourc-es, and these de ne their undamentalinterests. It ollows that the unions have aninterest in pushing or stronger collectivebargaining laws, because these enhancetheir success in gaining members andresources. They have an interest in pressing

or reduced class sizes, and in other waysincreasing the demand or teachers. 9

Better data and more transparency candismantle myths and assumptions about

collective bargaining and the role o unions,calling to task ideologically based positions.It is the surest path to achieving more in-

ormed negotiations and responsible resultsout o statehouses and decisions that aregeared toward the best interests o schoolchildren.

STATE ROLE BEGINS WITHESTABLISHING THE SCOPEOF BARGAININGAppreciating a more complex interpretationo teacher rules and protections requiresa grasp o scope o bargaining laws. Asstates have authority over public schoolgovernance in general, states decidewhether or not districts can even engagein collective bargaining. Currently, all but

ve states either require or permit schooldistricts to bargain a contract with the localteachers union.

Not only do states de ne the obligation odistricts to bargain, they also decide whatissues can be negotiated. For instance, inCali ornia and Massachusetts class size isa mandatory subject o bargaining, butin Maryland and Oregon it is prohibited.Layo policies are a required subject o bar-gaining in Nevada and Iowa, but bannedin Hawaii. Each state has its own laborcontext and history or why certain issuesare allowed on the negotiating table.

As we have already noted, many observ-ers presume that districts in the ve stateswithout collective bargaining operate theirschools with considerably more leeway

than districts in collective bargaining states.In act, we learned that the absence o acollective bargaining agreement may simplymean that the provisions o ten ound incontracts are embedded elsewhere, suchas local school board policies (usually theresult o in ormal consultation with thelocal teachers association) or, critically, instate laws and regulations. Here are just a

ew examples:

n Nearly every single district in the country,

regardless o whether there is a collectivebargaining agreement, grants teachers a

7 Leo Casey, The Educational Value o Democratic Voice: A De ense o Collective Bargaining in American Education, CollectivBargaining in Education, ed. Jane Hannaway and Andrew J. Rotherham (Boston: Harvard Education Press, 2006): 181-201.

8 Richard Kahlenberg, The History o Collective Bargaining among Teachers, Collective Bargaining in Education, ed. Jane Hannand Andrew J. Rotherham (Boston: Harvard Education Press, 2006): 7-25.

9 Terry Moe, Union Power and the Education o Children, Collective Bargaining in Education, ed. Jane Hannaway and Andrew J.Rotherham (Boston: Harvard Education Press, 2006): 229-255.


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similar amount o personal and sick leaveeach year (10 days on average).

n Teachers are generally given the sameamount o time to prepare their lessons,a standard o one period a day, regard-less o whether they negotiate a contract.

n Seniority provisions look virtually thesame in Houston, which does not havea collective bargaining agreement, asthey do in Philadelphia, which has thereputation o having one o the mostrigid collective bargaining agreements.

n The practice o bumping in whicha more senior teacher can simply bumpanother teacher rom a position oc-curs in districts without agreements (e.g.,Mobile, Alabama and Fort Worth, Texas)

just as it does in districts with agree-ments (e.g., Los Angeles, Cali ornia andAnne Arundel County, Maryland).

Minor di erences in how to interpret thestatutory language concerning what issuesthe state says can be bargained can resultin major di erences in opinion betweenthe local district and union. Even when thestatutory language is explicit, districts andunions still sit down in pre-negotiation meet-ings to determine what will be discussed inthe ormal negotiations.

For example, most every state with a public-sector collective bargaining statute willuse terminology relating to wages, hours,terms and conditions o employment intheir scope o bargaining statute. While thelanguage may appear to be similar acrossstates, its interpretation and application atthe local bargaining table can di er greatly.O ten the scope o bargaining statutesleaves questions as to where control overcertain matters lies. Districts and unionsinterpretations o such seemingly straight-

orward language as wages, hours, termsand conditions o employment providea good illustration o this power struggle.

School districts are likely to interpret thatphrase as narrowly as possible, while unionsopt or the broadest interpretations.

Di erences in interpretation requentlymake their way into the judicial system or

resolution, which is how the courts, as wellas state labor relations boards, state schoolboards, or the states attorney general, earntheir place in our equation. Here are someexamples:

n The courts: Illinois statute deems layo sto be a permissive subject o bargain-ing, meaning it is up to the employerand union to decide to make this anegotiated issue. But the ambiguity inthe states language brought the casebe ore a judge, who clari ed that onlyeconomically motivated layo s couldbe construed as a mandatory subject obargaining (leaving us wondering whatlayo s are not economically motivated).

n States attorney general: The Floridaattorney general ruled that since thestate employee relations board does notprovide a de nitive answer as to whatconstitutes a proper subject o bargain-ing (in response to a case o the negotia-tion o health insurance or employees

dependents), matters included in acollectively bargained agreement can beall encompassing and may in act touchalmost every element and acet o therelationshipwhen authorized by law. 10 Subsequently, health insurance becamea proper subject o negotiations throughthis ruling.

n Labor relations boards: The MarylandState Labor Relations Board ruled ona number o issues that are prohibitedtopics o negotiations, including thestart date o the school year. Previously,only the length o the student schoolyears was explicitly stated as a prohibitedsubject o negotiations.

10 Florida Attorney General: Advisory Legal Opinion, No. 72 (1977). It ruled that negotiation over health insurance coverage oremployees dependents was proper subject o bargaining.


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In sum, be ore representatives or the twosides sit down at a negotiating table, stateshave already decided if a district is allowedto negotiate and what a district is allowedto negotiate. And occasionally, as hap-pened in New York City, i the state does

not like a district policy it has the authorityto override it. As we have learned, stateshave taken many issues such as evaluation,tenure, and dismissal o the negotiatingtable and codi ed them into state law.

From the perspective o the teachersunions, why not? It may be hard to passa state law, but once passed there is noclock ticking on its expiration as therewould be i it were part o a collectivebargaining agreement. State law also

eliminates the need to negotiate an issuein multiple districts. Cali ornia, or instance,has 1,128 school districts. It makes moresense or an organization, union, oradvocacy group to lobby a single legislaturethan it does to negotiate 1,128 separatecontracts. Un ortunately, what may bemost e cient rom a union perspectiverequires a strategy that removes decision-making rom the ground level, increasingthe likelihood that students needs are notsu ciently considered.

KEY EXAMPLES OF STATE INFLUENCEHere are a few key examples of issues that many assume are the sole purview of thecollective bargaining agreement but which

state laws and regulations critically and fundamentally shape .

Teacher TenureSurprisingly, neither teachers unions norstate legislatures look upon tenure as an

honor con erred upon a teacher who isound by some measure to be e ective.

In their view, tenure at the PK-12 levelis a right that should be con erred to allemployed teachers with a ew years osatis actory teaching experience. The actthat this interpretation di ers signi cantly

rom how higher education views tenure isin part due to the context in which tenure

laws in K-12 education originated. Be orecollective bargaining and unionization,teachers could be red or virtually anycause, including pregnancy or disagreeingwith a supervisor. Unions have worked hardto ensure that tenure status equates with

the right to due process and is viewed asan equity law, a distinction that bears littlerelationship to a teachers actual impact ore ectiveness in producing student learninggains.

In terms o teachers rights or due process,there are two kinds o teachers: thosewith tenure (also known as continuingcontract status) and those without it.A veteran teacher with tenure receivespre erential treatment over newer teachers

in everything rom school assignment todismissal procedures. Tenure also plays arole in how requently a teacher is evalu-ated, typically ranging rom a couple otimes a year or the untenured teacher toas seldom as once every ve years or thetenured teacher.

Consequently, tenure is hugely important toteachers. Yet look at any contract and verylittle is said about tenure, particularly aboutthe process by which it is con erred. Take

Los Angeles Uni eds collective bargain-ing agreement as an example. While thecontract is nearly 350 pages long, it doesnot contain anything more than a passingre erence to tenure.

The absence o language is because states,not districts, decide when teachers shouldbe eligible or tenure. Every single state hasa policy regarding tenure, yet it is only men-tioned in a third of the contracts or board

policies in the 100 TR 3 districts. All states

have decided that tenure should comeearly on in a teachers career, ar soonerthan in higher education. Just eight states(Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan,North Carolina, South Dakota, Indiana,and Missouri) require teachers to wait ouror ve years be ore gaining tenure. In allother states, teachers quali y or tenure inthree years or less. In Nevada, while the


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standard probationary period or teachersis two years, a clause in the state statuteallows teachers to quali y or tenure withina single year provided they have threeconsecutive satis actory evaluations. Missis-sippi and North Dakota also grant teachers

tenure a ter just one year in the classroom.

Apart rom the number o years that ateacher serves, state laws tend to put onlyone other condition on a teachers eligibility

or tenure: a record o satis actory evalu-ations, an achievement that ew teachers

ail to earn. Louisiana state law illustratesthe relative ease in earning tenure: Suchprobationary teacher shall automaticallybecome a regular and permanent teacherin the employ o the school board o theparish or city, as the case may be, in whichhe has success ully served his three-yearprobationary term. 11

Conceivably, a district could impose amore rigorous tenure requirement thanthe minimum established by the state,though doing so would be di cult to

negotiate in any collective bargainingagreement and politically un easible. Aswe have already noted, New York Citysrecent e ort to require per ormance to beconsidered was squashed by the New YorkState Legislature.

EvaluationsFew people, including teachers unions andschool administrators, will de end currentevaluation systems, which are commonlyviewed as per unctory and sloppily admin-istered. Any e ort to actor in a teachersimpact on student per ormance is generallymet with skepticism over issues o airnessand reliability. As a consequence, manyevaluations ail to consider teacher e ec-tiveness.

Practically speaking, the evaluation processprovides school leadership with the moste cient opportunity to assess a teachersper ormance, an important mechanismthat bene ts not just weak teachers, butstrong teachers as well. Ideally, evaluationsshould serve as a pro essional developmentopportunity, helping teachers o varied skilllevels, by pointing out strengths and weak-nesses. Documenting poor per ormance onan evaluation is generally the most e ectiveway to initiate a dismissal (though it hasbeen well chronicled that most principalsloathe giving low ratings to members otheir aculty). As we have already noted,the only condition that a teacher generallyever has to meet to quali y or tenure inaddition to two or three years o experienceis a satis actory evaluation rating onthe teacher evaluation instrument.Consequently, the nature and requencyo evaluations are o crucial importance.

Although states do not employ teachers(districts do), states play a central role inpolicies on teacher evaluation. Most statesrequire evaluations only every two orthree years. Only 13 states require annualevaluations o the per ormance o tenuredinstructors. A tenured teacher in NorthCarolina receives one summative evalu-ation every ve years. In Texas, teachersmay themselves decide i they want to beevaluated, provided they were rated at leastpro cient on a previous rating, a rightthat extends through ve years.

1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years

2states

8states

33states

6states 2states

Number o years o experiencerequired or tenure

11 Louisiana Revised Statute 17:442. Probation and Tenure o Parish or City School Teachers.


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States o ten establish the minimum numbero times that a teacher must be evaluated,with districts usually adopting the stateminimum to serve as the standard protocol.The minimum there ore becomes the de

acto maximum.

There are notable exceptions. For example,while Illinois requires evaluations everytwo years or tenured teachers, Chicagorequires annual evaluations or all o itsteachers. Most districts, however, are unlikeChicago and simply choose to adopt thestate policy. Out o the 100 school districtsin the TR3 sample, only 14 local contractsstipulate that an evaluation shall occur at adi erent interval than the state minimum.

Although most states have policies regard-ing the requency o teacher evaluation, ar

ewer choose to weigh in on the substanceo the evaluation. (In this era o account-ability, more states are electing to weigh inon substance.) Only six states require dis-tricts to use an evaluation instrument thatthe state has designed. 12 Without requiringthe use o a speci c instrument, nine statesrequire districts to consider certain actors

by which to judge a teacher.Just what criteria are considered in di er-ent states reveals an important divergence,generally aligned with how power ul theteachers union is in a particular state. Instates with strong unions, like New York,

Pennsylvania, and Hawaii, the state actu-ally prohibits its districts rom consideringmeasures based on student test results, aview that aligns with the positions o bothnational teachers unions. In states withweaker unions, like Florida and Tennessee,

the legislatures require districts to considersuch measures o student per ormance ontheir teacher evaluation instruments.

Comparatively more districts demonstrateinterest in drawing a connection betweenteacher per ormance and student learning.Nearly a third o the TR 3 districts requirestudent per ormance (however measured)to actor into the evaluation o a teacheron a continuing contract. Still, the clearmajority o districts remain silent on the

issue or their policy is simply too ambigu-ous to determine i student per ormanceis actored into a teachers evaluation in ameaning ul way.

DismissalPhiladelphias collective bargaining agree-ment exempli es the role o states in shap-ing the rules that govern teacher dismissal.While the 275-page contract betweenthe district and its union, the PhiladelphiaFederation o Teachers, includes a lot o

language on the subject o salary sched-ules, grievance procedures, and stipends

or classroom materials, there is nary are erence to the districts dismissal policies.

Only a third o the nations 50 largestdistricts prescribe the procedures that mustbe ollowed in order to dismiss a weakteacher. While teacher contracts o ten layout the steps a district must take to helpa teacher who is ound to be weak, theytypically stop short o suggesting that some

teachers may still be underper orming orine ective in reaching students, even a terhaving received additional support andpro essional development.

Hal o all states, in contrast, set orth pro-cedures or dismissal with great speci city,

Annual 1x every2 yrs

1x every3 yrs

1x every4 yrs

Issue notaddressed

in statelaw

14states

4states

11states

6states

13states

3states

Whensupervisordeems itnecessary

Frequency o evaluations ortenured teachers

12 Five other states provide a model or teacher evaluations, but allow districts to modi y it according to local needs.


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tives. States are allocating about hal othe annual three billion ederal dollars thatthey receive under Title II unds to class sizereduction.

Where states do not impose class size

requirements on districts, districts willset limits. O the 26 states that leave itto districts to decide, only a hand ul othe TR3 districts do not have a policy onthe issue in either the collective bargain-ing agreement or board policy. 14 Neitherstates nor districts may ully appreciate thecost o these initiatives and the degree towhich they rule out other re orms thatmight be more e ective. However, there isno question that states are less capable oaccommodating and adjusting or districts

constraints on physical space and access toa larger teaching pool.

SalaryTeacher salaries are one area in which dis-tricts or the most part call the shots.Although states o ten set minimum salaries,

this exercise has little impact. Largely, statesleave it to districts (and unions) to decidethe exact amount o pay at each step o

the salary table, though states nonethe-less o ten set the salary structure o when(annually) and how (by taking advancedcoursework) teachers are awarded raises.

Eight states set the minimum salary that all

teachers in a state must earn, a relativelymeaningless gure as it is usually wellbelow what districts actually pay. For ex-ample, Louisiana and South Carolina haveminimum salary requirements on the booksthat refect salaries teachers would haveearned decades ago. There are, however,exceptions. In West Virginia, state lawrequires that no district can pay teachersmore than 10 percent above other districtsin the state, keeping wages lower thansome districts would otherwise be able and

willing to pay.

Eighteen other states spell out the termsunder which teachers may earn a raise.Refecting the view o many employers,states believe teachers should be rewarded

or their loyalty, paying them more moneythe longer they stay in the district. Morecontroversial is their practice o awardingsigni cant pay increases to teachers whohave masters degrees, which research sug-gests does nothing to enhance a teachers

e ectiveness.15 O the 26 states that havespeci c salary guidelines, 18 have require-ments that e ectively require districts toreward higher salaries based on advancedcredits.

Furthermore, state teacher licensurerequirements in over 30 states make earninga masters degree the most prominentrequirement or advancing to a non-proba-tionary license. This requirement is another,albeit indirect, way o sending strong

signals to districts on how to structurepay and reward teachers.

14 It is important to note that among the states that de er to districts to set limits on class size, several have special state grant prograthat award money to help districts with the costs o reducing class size. Furthermore, Federal Title II unds o ten go toward classreduction, money that nearly all states receive. TR3 does not capture this in ormation.

15 This is perhaps the most conclusive fnding in the research on the relationship between certain attributes and student achievement.For a ew examples, see R.G. Ehrenberg and D. Brewer, Do School and Teacher Characteristics Matter? Evidence rom High Schand Beyond, Economics o Education Review (1994). And B. Rowan, R. Correnti, and R. Miller, What Large-Scale, Survey ResTells Us About Teacher E ects On Student Achievement: Insights rom the Prospects Study o Elementary Schools, ConsortiumPolicy Research in Education, U. o Pennsylvania, Graduate School o Education (2002).

States with class size policies

State with class size policyState with no class size policy


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Pay Re ormStates play a more integral role in other as-pects o teacher compensation, particularlyin ways to pay teachers or increased stu-dent achievement and make salaries moresensitive to the marketplace rules o supplyand demand. Twenty states o er additionalpay to teachers who take assignments inhigh-poverty schools. Fi teen o er additionalpay or teachers in critical shortage areassuch as math, ESL, and special education. InLouisiana, a math teacher can get a bonuso 10 percent o her salary or up to $3,000

or our years. In Massachusetts, a teachercan get $20,000 or teaching science over

our consecutive years in the classroom.

Sixteen states o er some orm o per or-mance pay. For example, in Cali ornia,superior teachers may be awarded aone-time bonus o $25,000; while in Texas,teachers who help their highly disadvan-taged schools achieve academic ratingso superior or higher over a two-yearperiod can earn a bonus o at least $3,000.

While many districts have embraced payre orms, most o these plans are occur-ring in locales that also have a state-levelcompensation re orm initiative. Only a

hand ul o districts such as Anne ArundelCounty, Maryland and Denver, Coloradohave initiated such programs without statepolicy rst providing the impetus.

Fringe BeneftsWhile most employee bene ts get decidedat the local level, states intervene on oneimportant bene t: sick leave. Thirty stateshave policies governing some aspect o sickleave, such as how many days are given ayear or whether teachers can be compen-sated or unused leave at retirement. Tenstates set minimums standards or districtsregarding the number o sick days a teachercan take each year at ull pay. Fourteenstates set the terms or teachers use opersonal leave.

In some cases, such as in Ohio, stateinvolvement in leave reimbursement datesback to budget crunches in the 1980swhen teacher wages were not keeping upwith those in other states. States o eredsick leave compensation packages or

teachers as a way to balance lower salaries.Just as it is with language in collectivebargaining agreements, once somethingis written into law, it generally becomes apermanent xture in the policy landscape,o ten regardless o changes in climate thatmight negate the need or such policies.

Typically, local contracts and board policiesrefect the states policy on sick leave. Occa-sionally a district will exceed the minimumguarantees established by the state.

Interestingly, all our o the Georgia schooldistricts in the TR 3 sample Cobb, Fulton,Gwinnett, and DeKalb ar surpass thestates minimum. Cobb and DeKalb eachallow teachers to accumulate up to 120days o unused sick leave; Gwinnett Countyallows up to 150 days; and Fulton Countyallows up to 190, which is more than thetotal number o days in a ull school year.Teachers may cash in any unused days attheir retirement, o ten accruing the equiva-

lent o nearly a years salary.

WHY STATES ARE CALLING THE SHOTSStates growing role in teacher governance,beyond setting the conditions under whichcollective bargaining may occur, refectsdramatic changes in the education land-scape that began over a century ago. Statesbegan to actively insert themselves in publiceducation early in the 20th century, but anumber o actors over the past ve de-

cades have tipped the scales to states overdistricts. Lawsuits demanding equitable oradequate school unding, the maturationo the teachers unions, the growth o theeducation re orm movement, and increas-ing ederal legislation stand out as our othe primary actors contributing to statedominance.


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LawsuitsLawsuits beginning in the 1970s chal-lenged state education nance systems,shi ting the burden o school nance romdistricts to states in an e ort to equalizethe unding that schools receive. The U.S.Supreme Court rejected the argumentsthat education is a undamental right andthat unequal state unding violates theU.S. Constitution. 16 This decision shi tedlitigation to the state level. According tothe National Access Network, a group that

ocuses on school unding equity, statecourts played a role in education nancelitigation as early as 1819 in Massachusetts.The more recent encroachment o thecourts into the education arena began withthe 1971 Cali ornia Supreme Court rulingo Serrano v. Priest . That case decided thateducation is a undamental constitutionalright and that Cali ornias education nancesystem violated its constitutions equalprotection clause. 17

Subsequent to that case, throughout the1970s and 1980s, nearly every state acedsome sort o lawsuit on the basis o equityclaims, though plainti s lost as much asthey won. It was not until the discourseshi ted rom equity in unding to adequacythat plainti s were success ul. The plainti sargued that more or less equal unding didnot necessarily raise educational quality toa level adequate or children to participatein a democracy or compete in a globaleconomy. Equalizing tax capacity doesnot by itsel equalize education. Theeducationally relevant disparities not onlyrefect the tax base inequalities, but localpolitical and administrative choices as well,not to mention the impact o preexisting

di erences in the students and theirmilieus. 18

The adequacy lawsuits not only led togreater scal ownership on the part ostates or public education, but they also

marked the beginning o the standardsmovement. 19

Union EmergenceDuring the latter hal o the last century,collective bargaining also gained steam. Asthe private sector labor movement grew inthe 1950s, public sector workers, particu-larly teachers, saw the need or collectivebargaining in the ace o poor workingconditions, low wages, and avoritism inhiring and placement decisions. The rst

real breakthrough came in New York Cityin the 1960s, with Al Shanker leading theway. Soon a ter in 1962, President Ken-nedy issued an executive order that allowed

ederal workers to bargain collectively,helping to validate the notion o publicsector collective bargaining. 20 In less thanseven years (1967 to 1974), the number ostates mandating collective bargaining qua-drupled rom 9 to 36 (including the Districto Columbia).21 Its a right con erred entirelyby states, as ederal law grants states the

authority to decide i public sector employ-ees can bargain collectively with employers.

As unions have matured, their leaders haverealized that it is more e cient to lobbystate legislatures on particular provisionsthan to negotiate district by district every

ew years as contracts expire. Perhaps it iswith some irony that statehouses, whichcon er the right to collectively bargain, havebecome the pre erred vehicle or change,allowing unions to bypass negotiations

16 San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 US 1 (1973).17 National Access Network, School Funding Litigation Overview, March 2007, .18 Peter Enrich, Leaving Equality Behind: New Directions in School Finance Re orm, Vanderbilt Law Review 48 (1995): 101.19 Michael A. Rebell, Education, Adequacy, Democracy and the Courts, Studies in Judicial Remedies and Public Engagement Vol.

(May 2001).20 Richard Kahlenberg, The History o Collective Bargaining Among Teachers, Collective Bargaining in Education, ed. Jane Hann

and Andrew J. Rotherham (Boston: Harvard Education Press, 2006): 7-25.21 Randall W. Eberts, Teachers Unions and Student Per ormance: Help or Hindrance?, The Future o Children 17.1 (Spring 2007):

175-200.


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measures. Take Cali ornia GovernorSchwarzeneggers Proposition 74, whichsought to increase the years be ore tenurecan be granted rom two to ve years.Despite heavy investment in support o theinitiative, voters soundly de eated it. Union

e orts to oppose the ballot amounted tonearly $15 million.

Education Re orm MovementUnions and the education re orm move-ment are o ten on opposing sides o issues,but both groups perceive it in their interestto increase the amount o authority wield-ed by states. In act, a good amount o thesteam or the education re orm movementhas come rom the nations governors,particularly Southern governors. In 1986,three years a ter the birth o the educationre orm movement with the publication o

A Nation at Risk , some 250 state-level taskorces were launched to spur school re orm

e orts.22

Education re orm cuts a broad swath, push-ing or changes on many ronts. Throughthe standards movement, state authority

or the curriculum that schools teach hasgrown. All states now have student-learningstandards, a oreign idea just a ew decades

ago, when even districts struggled to gettheir schools to adhere to a standard localcurriculum.

The push to hold schools, school districts,and states accountable or results is thecore o the education re orm movementand it has led to a great deal more stateauthority. In the 1970s all states beganrequiring that students pass basic skillstests. A ter A Nation at Risk was published,these tests were roundly criticized as too

easy, comparing un avorably with examsrequired by other countries. The pressureto raise standards led states to adopt more

meaning ul benchmarks o student per or-mance and even statewide curricula, oncethe sacrosanct purview o districts. By 2002more than 25 states had adopted manda-tory graduation exams. 23

Finally, states have served as the gatekeeperor the charter school movement. It isstate legislatures, not local school districts,that must pass legislation allowing charterschools to exist. Currently 40 states haveapproved such legislation, with a widevariety among these states in the numbero charter schools permissible in districtsand their governance structure. 24

Federal Role in Public EducationWith some irony, greater ederal authority

has actually contributed to greater stateauthority. Federal legislation beginningwith the 1965 Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act and continuing with the1974 Individuals with Disabilities Act, the1994 reauthorization o the Elementary andSecondary Education Act, and o course itssuccessor, the 2001 No Child Le t BehindAct, all require states to take on a greaterrole. NCLBs requirement that all teachersmust be highly quali ed represents the rst

ederal oray into regulation o the teaching

pro ession.

NCLB does not seize power rom states,contrary to popular view, but instead iscare ully cra ted to give states a great dealo authority and fexibility in carrying out itstenets. Although states may be under thegun to improve graduation rates and testscores, they retain a good deal o authorityand leeway or meeting these provisions.

The notion that he who pays has the

power certainly holds true here. Accordingto University o Michigan historian Je reyMirel, dramatic increases in state spending

22 Susan H. Fuhrman, Education Policy: A New Context or Governance, Publius: The Journal o Federalism 17.3 (1987): 131-1423 Audrey L. Amrein and David C. Berliner, High-Stakes Testing, Uncertainty, and Student Learning, Education Policy Analysis Ar

10.18 (2002).24 Center or Education Re orm, .


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or public education started in the 1930s,with states contributing about 15 percento all school unding. That gure doubledby 1940 and has increased steadily since.Today, state governments contribute nearlyhal o school districts budgets and, not to

be overlooked, also serve as the conduit bywhich the ederal governments contribu-tion (o almost 10 percent) makes it intothe school districts. 25 States are unques-tionably the principal shareholder in thisventure.

MORE DATA, BETTER PRACTICESThere is little reason to think that this trendin state authority will not continue in thenear uture, so it is important that legisla-tors, their sta s, governors, advocates, andthe public understand the consequences,intended and otherwise, o both new andexisting legislation and rules shaping thequality o the nations teaching orce.

Media coverage, study and examination byscholars, and even policy attention romeducation re orm groups omit a signi cantcontributing orce on teacher quality.

Some elements o teacher contracts, withoutquestion, remain the purview o the localdistrict. But states are increasingly playing

an outsized role in structuring the scope,nature, and speci cs o contracts evenbe ore union leaders and school superinten-dents reach the bargaining table.

Whereas the traditional role o states wasto establish minimum standards to enablegreater equity across districts o varied de-mographics, increasingly state governmentsare the battleground or contentious policyissues, with interest groups lobbying orlegislation that may not work in the best

interests o school children. It is a ne linethat state governments must walk betweendecisions that raise standards and holdsdistricts accountable or results and onethat restricts districts rom innovation thatmay be better suited to serve local needs.

Special thanks to Aileen Corso, Valerie Franck, Kate Kelliher, Tracey Myers Preston and Betsy McCorry.

25 Rankings and Estimates: Rankings o the States 2006 and Estimates o School Statistics 2007, National Education Association,Dec. 2007.


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National Council on Teacher Quality

Invisible Ink in Collective Bargaining

APPENDIX: COLLECTIVEBARGAINING QUESTIONSBeneftsTuition Reimbursement1. Does the district or state o er

tuition reimbursement orteachers?

2. Must a course be related tothe teachers current or utureassignment or certi cation to beeligible or tuition reimbursement?

3. What is the cap on tuitionreimbursement or a single year?

4. Must the teacher meet a graderequirement to be eligible ortuition reimbursement?

5. Must the course have beenapproved by the administrationto be eligible or reimbursement?

6. Is there language in theagreement regarding theprompt payment o unds

or tuition reimbursement?

Health Insurance

1. What is the districts minimumannual contribution or individualmedical plans?

2. What is the districts minimumannual contribution or amilymedical plans?

3. What type o medical insurancedoes the district o er?

4. What is the employees minimumannual health insurance premium

or amily coverage?

5. What is the employees minimumannual health insurance premium

or individual coverage?6. Is dental insurance o ered

through the district?

7. Does a teacher have to pay ordental coverage?

8. Is vision insurance o ered throughthe district?

9. Does a teacher have to pay orvision coverage?

10. Are health bene ts available orsame-sex domestic partners?

Life Insurance1. I basic li e insurance is not

automatically included in thebene ts package, how muchis the minimum premium that

the teacher has to pay?2. Does the teacher have to pay or

basic li e insurance?

CalendarSchool Year1. What does the district consider

the teacher contract year orpurposes o calculating the dailyrate o pay?

2. How many hours are students

scheduled to be in school orthe 07-08 school year? (07-08elementary student yearx elementary student school day)

3. Does the district consider paidholidays part o its contractyear? (see FN or number o paidholidays counted)

4. How many teachers days areon the 2007-2008 calendar(excluding paid holidays)?

5. How many days in the 2007-2008calendar is the teacher on-sitewithout students?

6. How many student days are onthe 2007-2008 calendar?

7. How many hours are teachersscheduled to be on site duringthe 07-08 school year? (07-08elementary teacher work yearx daily on-site requirement orelementary teachers)

8. How many student hal -days arelisted on the 2007-2008 calendar?

9. What types o alternativeschedules does the district have?

School Day1. How long is the school day or

elementary students?

2. How long is the school day orsecondary students?

3. How long is the scheduledworkday or elementary teachers?(total time scheduled on-site,including lunch)

4. How long is the scheduledworkday

or secondary teachers? (total timescheduled on-site, including lunch)

5. How much time must an

elementary teacher arrive be orethe start o the student schoolday?

6. How much time must a secondaryteacher arrive be ore the start othe student school day?

7. How long must an elementaryteacher stay a ter the o cial closeo the student school day?

8. How long must a secondaryteacher stay a ter the o cial closeo the student school day?

Preparation Time1. How much time in the teacher

workday is a secondary teachergiven to prepare or classes?


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2. How much time in the teacherworkday is an elementary teachergiven to prepare or classes?

3. How much preparation time doesan elementary teacher have perweek?

4. How much preparation time doessecondary teacher have per week?

5. What happens i an elementaryteacher loses a preparationperiod?

6. What happens i a secondaryteacher loses a preparationperiod?

Faculty Meetings1. How o ten are aculty meetings

held?2. How much advance notice is

required be ore a principal canhold a aculty meeting?

3. Is the amount o time or a acultymeeting capped?

Class Size

Class Size Restrictions1. What is the class size restriction

or prekindergarten?2. What is the class size restriction

or kindergarten?3. What is the class size restriction

or grade 1?4. What is the class size restriction

or grade 2?5. What is the class size restriction

or grade 3?

6. What is the class size restrictionor grade 4?





11. What is the class size restrictionor grades 9-12?

12. What happens when the class sizelimit is exceeded?

Di erential PaySubjects1. Can a teacher earn a higher

annual salary, or additionalstipend, by virtueo teaching certain subjects?

2. Teaching which subjects quali esa teacher to receive a stipend orhigher annual salary? What is theamount?

Performance1. Can a teacher earn additional pay

on the basis o per ormance?2. I a teacher can earn additional

pay on the basis o per ormance,

how is per ormance determined?3. What is the amount or range

o the award or e ectiveper ormance?

High Needs1. Can a teacher earn additional pay

by working in a school classi edby the district as high-needs?

2. Which schools does the districtconsider high needs or thepurposes o awarding teachersadditional pay?

3. What is the amount or range oannual incentive pay or teachingin a school classi ed by the districtas high-needs?

National Board1. Does the state or district o er

nancial support to coverNational Board certi cation ees?

2. Can a teacher who has NationalBoard certi cation earn additionalpay?

3. What is the annual amount orrange o the additional pay orNational Board certi cation?

Attendance1. Can a teacher earn additional

pay or demonstrating good job

attendance?2. What is the amount or range

o pay that a teacher can earnor demonstrating good job

attendance?

EvaluationThe Evaluation Instrument1. Is there a statewide teacher

evaluation instrument?

Evaluation Requirements forUntenured Teachers1. Can an administrator decide to

extend the probationary period oa teacher on a provisional contracti the principal is uncertain thatthe teacher should receive tenure?

2. How requently is a teacher with aprovisional contract evaluated?

3. Must the evaluation o a teacherwith a provisional contract bebased on multiple observations?

4. How many categories o ratingsare there or provisional contractteachers? (i.e. unsatis actory,satis actory = 2; excellent, good,mediocre, unacceptable = 4)?


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5. Can student per ormance,however measured, be actoredinto the evaluation o a teacher ona provisional contract?

6. Can the results o studentsstandardized achievement testsbe used as a component o theevaluation o a teacher on aprovisional contract?

7. What is the minimum duration oeach observation or a teacher ona provisional contract?

8. Must a teacher on a provisionalcontract get prior notice o a

ormal observation?

Evaluation Requirements forTenured Teachers1. What is the minimum required

requency o evaluation or ateacher who has achieved tenurestatus and a rating o at leastsatis actory?

2. Is the evaluation o a teacher ona continuing contract based onmultiple observations?

3. What is the minimum duration oeach observation or a teacher ona continuing contract?

4. Must a teacher on a continuingcontract get prior notice o a

ormal observation?5. How o ten does a teacher have

to turn in lesson plans to a schooladministrator?

6. How many categories o ratingsare there or continuing contractteachers? (i.e. unsatis actory,satis actory = 2; excellent, good,mediocre, unacceptable = 4)?

7. Can student per ormance,however measured, be actoredinto the evaluation o a teacher ona continuing contract?

8. Can the results o studentsstandardized achievement testsbe used as a component o theevaluation o a continuing contractteacher?

9. Is peer review a component oevaluation or a teacher on acontinuing contract?

Consequences of a Negative

Evaluation and Components ofthe Remediation Plan1. Does a teacher have the right to

grieve an evaluation rating i thereare no acknowledged proceduralviolations?

2. Can a teacher receive a secondopinion on a negative evaluationrating rom another evaluator?

3. Is a teacher placed on aremediation plan a ter the rstunsatis actory evaluation?

4. Is a teacher provided a mentor aspart o the remediation plan?

5. Must a teacher on remediationcomplete additional pro essionaldevelopment coursework?

6. Must a teacher observeother teachers as part o theremediation plan?

7. Can a tenured teacher with anegative evaluation voluntarilytrans er?

8. Can a tenured teacher who hasreceived a negative evaluation beinvoluntarily trans erred?

9. Does the remediation plan includea timeline or improvement?

10. Does the remediation planidenti y speci c areas o teachersper ormance that are in need oimprovement?

11. Can there be a salary reeze ia teacher receives a negativeevaluation?

12. How long is a teacher on aremediation plan be ore s/he isreevaluated?

13. What happens when a tenuredteacher on a remediation planis reevaluated and receives anegative evaluation?

14. How many sequentialunsatis actory evaluations can atenured teacher receive be orean administrator can initiate thedismissal procedure?

15. When must a tenured teacher benoti ed o his/her dismissal?

General Employment Provisions

General Employment Provisions1. What is the minimum number o

years o experience that a teachermust have in a district be orecontinuing contract status (tenure)is granted?

2. Is there a management rightsclause in the contract?

3. Do teachers have a role in site-based decision-making throughschool leadership councils or other

orms o democratic decision-making?

4. Is a criminal background checkrequired to teach?


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5. What orms are included in theagreement?

Working Conditions1. Is the school district responsible

or damage to a teachers propertyincurred on school grounds?

2. Must a teacher be noti ed o adisruptive students behaviorhistory?

3. Can a teacher administer corporalpunishment?

Grievances

Teacher Rights in the GrievanceProcedure1. Are leaves taken during the

grievance process counted againsta teachers personal or sick leave?

2. About which areas o theagreement may a teacher not lea grievance?

3. Is there language protecting ateacher rom repercussions or

ling a grievance?

4. Who must pay or a substituteso that a teacher may attend anarbitration hearing or hearingbe ore the board?

5. Can a record o the grievance bekept in teachers o cial personnel

le?6. What types o grievances quali y

or an expedited arbitration?

Grievance Procedure1. Is there an in ormal process or

resolving a grievance?2. With whom does the teacher le

an initial ormal grievance?

3. How many steps occur in thegrievance process (both in ormaland ormal) be ore arbitrationbegins?

4. What is the approximatemaximum amount o timeallowed or the grievance process,up to and including appeals?

5. In the event that a grievance goesto arbitration, what party pays orthe costs o arbitration?

6. Is an arbitration or board oeducation decision concerning a

led grievance nal and binding?

LeaveSick Leave1. How many sick days is a teacher

granted each year?2. Can unused sick days carry over

rom one year to the next?3. What is the maximum number

o sick days that a teacher canaccumulate?

4. Can a teacher receive payment or

unused sick leave at the end oeach school year?

5. At what rate can teachers receivepayment or unused sick leave atthe end o a school year?

6. Can a teacher receive payment orunused sick leave at retirement?

7. At what rate can teachers receivepayment or unused sick leave atretirement?

8. Can a teacher donate sick leave to

a sick leave bank?9. A ter how many days o absence

does a teacher have to providemedical documentation or sickleave?

Personal Leave1. How many personal days can a

teacher take each year?2. Is personal leave taken rom sick

leave?3. What is the total number o

sick and personal leave dayscombined?

4. Can unused personal days carryover rom one year to the next?

Leave for ProfessionalDevelopment1. Can a teacher ever take a

sabbatical leave?2. How many years o service are

required or a teacher to beeligible or a sabbatical leave?

3. How much is a teacher paidduring sabbatical?

4. Is there additional leave or anypro essional development thattakes place outside o thedistrict?

5. How many hours or days opro essional development leavecan a teacher take over and abovethe pro essional development daysalready scheduled by the district?

Pro essional DevelopmentMentors1. Is a mentor available to a new

teacher?2. How long is the mentorship

program or a new teacher?

3. Who selects teachers to bementors?4. Is it expected that a mentor will

have experience in subject area/ grade related to the teachersteaching assignment?


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5. What is the minimum numbero years o experience a teachermust have to be eligible to be amentor?

6. Is a mentor paid?7. Are mentors provided with

training?8. Does a mentor have reduced

teaching responsibilities or releasetime?

9. Does a mentor observe theteacher teaching?

Summer Orientation

1. Is there a summer orientation ornew teachers?

2. How long is the standard summerorientation that the districtprovides or new teachers?

3. Is a new teacher paid to attendthe summer orientation?

SalaryAnnual Salary1. What is the annual salary or a

ully certi ed, rst year teacherwith a bachelors degree (as oAugust 2007)?

2. Can a new teacher get anadvance on his/her salary be orethe school year begins or be orehis/her regular paycheck isscheduled to start?

3. Does the district/state payuncerti ed teachers less thancerti ed teachers?

4. What is the annual salary or ateacher with a bachelors degreeand 5 years o experience (as oAugust 2007)?

5. Does gaining one year oexperience always lead to a raise

or teachers with a bachelorsdegree (not including years oexperience a ter the maximumsalary is reached)?

6. A ter how many year(s) o serviceis a teacher eligible or a longevitybonus?

7. What is the maximum annualsalary or a teacher with abachelors degree (as o August2007)?

8. What is the annual salary or aully certi ed, rst year teacher

with a masters degree (as oAugust 2007)?

9. How many years o experiencedoes it take or a teacher with abachelors degree to reach themaximum salary?

10. How many raises does it take ora teacher with a bachelors degreeto achieve the maximum salary?(in that salary lane)

11. What is the annual salary or ateacher with a masters degreeand 5 years o experience (as oAugust 2007)?

12. What is the maximum annualsalary or a teacher with a mastersdegree (as o August 2007)?

13. Does gaining one year oexperience always lead to a raise

or a teacher with a mastersdegree (not including years oexperience a ter the maximumsalary is reached)?

14. How many years o experiencedoes it take or a teacher witha masters degree to reach themaximum salary?

15. How many raises does it take or ateacher with a masters degree toachieve the maximum salary?

Daily Rate of Pay1. What is the daily on-site rate o

pay or a ully certi ed, rst yearteacher with a bachelors degree(as o August 2007)?

2. What is the daily on-site rate opay or a teacher with a bachelorsdegree and 5 years o experience(as o August 2007)?

3. What is the maximum daily on-

site rate o pay or a teacher witha bachelors degree (as o August2007)?

4. What is the daily on-site rate opay or a ully certi ed, rst yearteacher with a masters degree (aso August 2007)?

5. What is the daily on-site rate opay or a teacher with a mastersdegree and 5 years o experience(as o August 2007)?

6. What is the maximum daily on-site rate o pay or a teacher witha masters degree (as o August2007)?

Salary Increases forAdditional Coursework1. Does the salary schedule include

an intermediate pay classi cationor a teacher who has a bachelors

degree and additional university/ pro essional development credits?

2. How many credits beyond abachelors degree must a teacherearn to quali y or the rstintermediate pay classi cation?


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3. What is the minimum annualsalary or a teacher who has abachelors degree and meets thecriteria or the rst intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale (aso August 2007)?

4. What is the maximum annualsalary or a teacher who has abachelors degree and meets thecriteria or the rst intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale (aso August 2007)?

5. How many credits beyond abachelors degree must a teacher

earn to quali y or the secondintermediate pay classi cation?

6. What is the minimum annual payor a teacher who has a bachelors

degree and meets the criteriaor the second intermediate

classi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

7. What is the maximum annual payor a teacher who has a bachelors

degree and meets the criteria

or the second intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

8. Does the salary schedule includean intermediate pay classi cation

or a teacher who has a mastersdegree and additional university/ pro essional development credits?

9. How many credits beyond amasters degree must a teacherearn to quali y or the rstintermediate pay classi cation?

10. What is the minimum annualpay or a teacher who has amasters degree and meets thecriteria or the rst intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

11. What is the maximum annualpay or a teacher who has amasters degree and meets thecriteria or the rst intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

12. How many credits beyond amasters degree must a teacher

earn to quali y or the secondintermediate pay classi cation?

13. What is the minimum annual payor a teacher who has a masters

degree and meets the criteriaor the second intermediate

classi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

14. What is the maximum annual payor a teacher who has a masters

degree and meets the criteria

or the second intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

15. How many credits beyond amasters degree must a teacherearn to quali y or the thirdintermediate pay classi cation?

16. What is the minimum annualpay or a teacher who has amasters degree and meets thecriteria or the third intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

17. What is the maximum annualpay or a teacher who has amasters degree and meets thecriteria or the third intermediateclassi cation on the pay scale(as o August 2007)?

Starting Salary with PriorWork Experience1. Is a teacher who is new to the

district, but not new to teachingeligible or a higher startingsalary?

2. What is the highest step or

which a teacher who is newto the district, but not new toteaching can quali y? (see FN

or di erences between types oteaching experience)

3. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or teaching inanother public school districtwithin the state?

4. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or teaching inanother public school districtoutside the state?

5. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or teaching in aprivate school?

6. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or teaching in acollege or university?

7. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or experience in asubject-related pro ession?

8. How much credit on the salaryschedule can a teacher get orexperience in a subject-relatedpro ession?


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9. Can a teacher get credit on thesalary schedule or serving in themilitary or Peace Corps?

10. How much credit on the salaryschedule can a teacher get orserving in the military or PeaceCorps?

Additional Pay for SupplementalDuties1. What is the annual stipend

awarded to a high school headootball coach (as o August,

2007)?

2. What is the annual stipendawarded to a high school dramasponsor (as o August, 2007)?

TenureRole of Tenure on Teacher Assign-ment and Employment1. What is the minimum number o

years o experience that a teachermust have in a district be orecontinuing contract status (tenure)is granted?

2. Can a teacher trans er during his/ her probationary period?

Termination o EmploymentTeacher Dismissal1. Can an administrator decide to

extend the probationary period oa teacher on a provisional contracti the principal is uncertain thatthe teacher should receive tenure?

2. Can a district dismiss a teacher on

a provisional contract be ore theend o the school year?3. By what date must an untenured

teacher be noti ed o a non-renewal o his/her contract?

4. Does a district have to cite thecauses or dismissal o a non-tenured teacher?

5. Does the state or district cap thetime in a dismissal process romthe notice o intent to dismiss toa nal decision by an arbitrator orhearing o cers?

6. Does the state or district cap thetime in a dismissal process romthe nal decision by an arbitratoror hearing o cers to an appeal?

7. Can the nal decision o anarbitrator or hearing judge toterminate a tenured teacher beappealed?

8. How many times can the decisionby an arbitrator or hearing judgeto terminate a tenured teacher beappealed?

9. What kind o outsideintervention(s) does the districtuse during the dismissal trialo a tenured teacher?

10. Once the dismissal process has

been initiated, can the teacher,charged with immoral conduct ora elony, be immediately removed

rom the classroom pending ahearing?

11. Once the dismissal process hasbeen initiated, can the teacher,charged with incompetence, beimmediately removed rom theclassroom pending a hearing?

12. How does a teachers convictiono a elony a ect his or herlicensure status?

13. How does a teachers convictiono a misdemeanor a ect his or herlicensure status?

14. Can a tenured teachers annualcontract be terminated at anytime or cause? (Or must it be atthe end o the year?)

15. When a tenured teacher issuspended and awaiting ormaldismissal procedures, may pay besuspended? (note when bene tsis also mentioned)

16. I a tenured teachers pay issuspended at any point during thedismissal process, is the teacherentitled to back pay i s/he wins adismissal hearing?

17. In addition to scheduled ormalevaluations, are there any othermechanisms a principal can applyto initiate termination actionsagainst an ine ective teacher?

18. A ter how many school days inwhich a tenured teacher has notshown up to work, can a schoolinitiate the termination processdue to job abandonment?

Layoffs1. Are layo s made according to

reverse seniority within area ocerti cation?

2. I a drop in enrollment in oneschool necessitates layo s, willonly teachers rom that school belaid o or will less senior teachers

rom other schools within thedistrict be laid o ?

3. I two teachers in the same schoolhave the same number o years o

experience within the district, willseniority within the school be usedas a tiebreaker, when teachers arelaid o rom that school?


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4. I a layo occurs, are laid-oteachers then given any pre erencei the district later needs to hireteachers? (including noti cation,guaranteed interviews, mandatoryre-hiring etc.)

5. A ter layo s have occurred, orhow long is a laid o teachergiven some degree o pre erence

or being rehired?6. When the next round o

hiring occurs a ter a periodnecessitating layo s, must thedistrict noti y laid o teachers o

new openings?

Resignation/Retirement1. By what date must a teacher give

noti cation that he/she intends toresign or retire?

2. Is there any sort o penalty ora teacher who ails to noti ythe district that he/she intendsto resign/retire by the districtsdeadline?

Trans ersPlacement of Transfers1. Who decides which teachers are

placed in a school?2. Are internal trans ers given

priority over new hires or vacantpositions?

3. Is seniority a actor in determiningteacher trans er placement?

4. What other actors, apart romseniority, determine a trans erring

teachers school assignment?5. What is the deciding actor when

determining teacher placement?

6. Is there any language regardingthe distribution o experiencedand novice teachers among stawhen hiring teachers?

7. What are the deadlines orrequesting and placing voluntarytrans ers?

8. What are the deadlines ornoti ying and placing involuntarytrans ers or the ollowing schoolyear?

Voluntary Transfer Procedure(Teacher Initiated Transfer)

1. How long does a teacher haveto be in a school be ore s/he canapply or a trans er?

2. Can a teacher trans er during his/ her probationary period?

3. Are there any protections againstadministrative retaliation or avoluntary teacher trans er?

4. Can a tenured teacher with anegative evaluation voluntarilytrans er?

Involuntary Transfer Procedure(Principal and District InitiatedTransfer)1. Can a teacher be involuntarily

trans erred to another school a terthe school year has started?

2. Is there a date a ter the schoolyear has started that involuntarytrans ers cannot occur? (Datespeci ed in ootnote)

3. Is there any language protecting

teachers rom arbitrary orcapricious trans ers?

4. Is there a limit on the number otimes a teacher can be involuntarilytrans erred (either by a principal ordistrict)?

5. Be ore involuntarily trans ers occur,does the administration ask orvolunteers?

6. What is the primary actor thatdetermines whether or not ateacher will be involuntarilytrans erred (apart rom licensurestatus)?

7. What other actors determinewhether or not a teacher will beinvoluntarily trans erred?

8. I a district trans ers a teacherusing seniority status as aconsideration, how is senioritydetermined?

9. I involuntary trans ers arenecessary, must the district selectthe most junior teacher in acerti cation area?

10. Can a tenured teacher who hasreceived a negative evaluation beinvoluntarily trans erred?

11. Do principals have any discretionin determining who will beinvoluntarily trans erred?

12. What, i any, teaching positionsare protected rom involuntarytrans ers?

13. Can a teacher identi ed or aninvoluntary trans er bump aless senior teacher rom his/her

job?

UnionUnion Role1. Is a teacher who opts not to

join the local union, neverthelessrequired to pay a ee to the union?

2. Is some time at aculty meetingsrequired to be alloted to unionmatters?


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