This book provides school board members with hands-on guidelines for collaborative bargaining with teacher unions. The book combines the practical with the conceptual and policy dimensions of teacher bargaining. Part 1 provides a view of immediate problems in their context--broad policy issues that affect across-the-table bargaining. Eight chapters address the following topics: must schools bargain? organization of the board for collective bargaining; tactics for negotiating with teachers unions; basic board issues and strategies; shared decision making; statutory benefits and teacher contracts; negotiation strategies with middle management; and efficiency issues in contracting for education services. Chapters in part 2 raise various public-policy issues that arise from teacher bargaining. The focus is not on how to cope with the bargaining process, but rather on whether and how the process might or should be changed as a matter of public policy. The first four chapters challenge the public-policy rationale for teacher bargaining and/or the rationale for public-sector bargaining. The remaining chapters address binding arbitration, professional ethics in public education, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, teacher salaries, agency shop fees; academic bias in public-sector labor relations, educational reform and teacher bargaining, and alternatives to teachers unions. (LMI)