The major focus of this study is on altering the current structure of collective bargaining in public education to provide for adequate community participation. Concentrating on big city school systems where minorities and the poor have historically been apart from the educational policy-making process, the study finds that the scope of bargaining between teachers' unions and school boards has expanded into various policy areas, giving the unions increased power to define public school policy and leaving those historically disenfranchised groups in urban centers even further removed from involvement in the policy-making process. This study finds that while the number of educational policy issues has increased in recent years, the power to resolve these issues has shifted to a small group of professionals (board negotiators, union staff, and third-party neutrals) who, the author asserts, are not necessarily accountable to the public. It proposes alternatives for reforming the collective bargaining structure in public education to increase citizen input. (Author/PKP)