The community school strategy calls on teachers, families, and school staff to take on new and more challenging roles to collaboratively address existing educational inequities. For example, deepened family and community engagement in the schools can help incorporate the rich funds of community knowledge and experience, both in the classroom and…

Schools connect students with peers and mentors, channel youthful energy into productive pursuits, teach essential academic skills and knowledge, and give overwhelmed parents room to breathe and work. Adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 gives America's schools the opportunity to provide what is uniquely possible in the schoolhouse while seeking…

Act 10, the 2011 legislative ruling in Wisconsin that reduced public-sector unions' collective bargaining power, provides a descriptive case study to examine what happens to teachers when collective bargaining disappears. Analysis of interviews with social studies teachers (n = 26) from a stratified random sample of 13 districts shows that the…

This qualitative research case study was conducted to describe expectations of superintendent leadership in the era of 21st century public education reform with the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions…

Efforts to unionize students at private universities are gaining momentum. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to reconsider whether graduate students at private nonprofit colleges and universities should be treated as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The case, "New School", Case No. 02- RC-143009,…

In its stunning and far-reaching decision in the "Pacific Lutheran University" case (12/16/14), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) opened the door to union organizing among faculty at thousands of private-sector institutions, both secular and religious. The question before the NLRB was whether a local of the Service Employees…

Research confirms what common sense dictates: Students learn less when their teachers aren't there. According to multiple studies, a ten-day increase in teacher absence results in at least ten fewer days of learning for students. Clearly, some absences are unavoidable--teachers are only human. But compared to their counterparts in other industries…

When he first came to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 1973, reports Phil Kugler, there was no such thing as labor-management collaboration. It was a term he had never heard of, and no one used it. Back then, the focus was on supporting local unions in their struggles to win collective bargaining rights. At the time, teachers were…

The Michigan Teacher Quality and Tenure Reform bill was signed into law in July 2011. The law mandated specific requirements for annual performance evaluation of all teachers and prohibited teacher evaluation as a subject of collective bargaining. The purpose of this phenomenological, collective case study was to describe the lived experiences of…

The study sought to understand the essence of the lived experiences of principals in labor relations. Labor relations include aspects of collective bargaining, teachers unions, and interactions with teachers from the perspective and experiences of elementary and middle school principals who are also members of their district negotiation team with…

Given their history of socio-economic peripheralization and continued struggles for success, one would expect African Americans--especially highly educated ones--to be adept at the various forms of mobilization and advocacy, especially that of labor unions, which have not only provided them access to opportunities but also given them a voice in…

This paper identifies those factors that led to American Association of University Professors (AAUP) representation at the nation's oldest degree-granting Historically Black College University (HBCU). In the span of 18 months, Lincoln Faculty overwhelmingly embraced unionism when the body agreed to have AAUP as its official agent in the collective…

Gov. Wolf has indicated his willingness to modify pensions for future Pennsylvania public sector workers by using a variant of the "stacked hybrid" design proposed in 2013 by Pottsville Republican Rep. Mike Tobash. Negotiations of a compromise pension deal, however, remain stalled because Senate leaders remain committed to their own…

Slow job growth and a labor market still short of full employment have resulted in stagnant wages and little growth in income in Pennsylvania. In order for the majority of Pennsylvania families to see real income growth in the years ahead the state will need a combination of faster job growth and economic policies that actively seek to raise wages…

Since 1980, Michigan retirees have been afforded health care benefits for which they were required to pay 10 percent of the premium upon retirement--the remainder was paid for by the state. Recently, the Michigan Legislature reduced the financial obligation of the State for retiree health care benefits, placing it on the individual member. In…