Teachers and Their Unions: Labor Relations in Uncertain Times
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Overview
Teachers and Their Unions: Labor Relations in Uncertain Times explores the decade of uncertainty in public education following the Great Recession by first laying a foundation that describes the development of teachers and public education and the rise of teacher unions. The selection of the industrial labor model at the outset of public sector collective bargaining set the table for challenges to its fit with education. The theme of teacher as member of a union and teacher as a professional is explored within the context of a collective bargaining environment. The section “Law and Politics in Uncertain Times: Retrenchment and Assault” explores the decade of uncertainty. It reviews the industrial union model and within the twin challenges of the conundrum of teacher as union member and professional in the struggles of the decade. Tenure (boondoggle or necessary protection), VAM (rank and yank), right-to-work, agency fees, and teacher strikes are explored within the themes of the industrial union model and the tension of union member and professional. The book concludes with thoughts for the future and responds to the question of whether teacher unions are still pertinent.
Table of Contents
Preface: Labor Unrest, or Unrest with Labor?
Chapter 1. Introduction: 2010 to the Present, Teachers and Their Unions
The Legislative Response
The Judicial Response
Tenure
Agency Fees: Subsidized Compelled Speech
Getting Rid of Rotten Apples?
The Book
Section I. Teacher Unions
Chapter 2. Teachers, Their Work, and Their Union
From Colonies to a Republic: A Glimpse at Early American Education
The Common School Movement: Setting the Table for Bargaining
Education: A People Intensive Enterprise
Labor Relations in Education
What Do Unions Do?
Chapter 3. The Rise of Teacher Unions: The Influence of the Law
A Legal Framework for Teacher Unions
National Labor Relations Act
The NLRB and Charter Schools (Jacob A. Bennett, Graduate Assistant and doctoral candidate in Leadership & Policy Studies, University of New Hampshire)
History of Teachers Unions
The AFT
The NEA
Collective Bargaining in the Public Schools
Public Sector Labor Laws
Enforcing the Law: State Public Sector Labor Boards
Chapter 4. The Industrial Union Legacy
Labor, Not Craft, Art, or Profession: The Organizing Model
From the Assembly Line to the Classroom
Strikes and Work-to-Rule
The Ocean Hill-Brownsville Strike
Work to Rule: Just Follow the Rules
Section II. Transitions: The Impact of Unionization
Chapter 5. Transitions: Formalize, Standardize, and Centralize Relationships
Collective Bargaining and Relationships
Formalize Relationships
Standardize Relationships
Centralization for Uniformity
Transitions
Transition: Union President to Administration (Nathan Fellman, Assistant Principal, Ross A. Lurgio Middle School)
Chapter 6. The Union Member and the Professional: A Tangled Fit
The Conundrum: The Union Member
The Conundrum: The Role of the Profession
The Fit in Two Parts
Short Answer
Protection
Advocacy
Support
Blind Protection
Work of the Union
Divisiveness
The Union Label
Bread-and-Butter and/or Professionalism
Section III. Law and Politics in Uncertain Times: Retrenchment and Assault
Chapter 7. Power, Money, and Politics: Responses to Teacher Unions
A Legal Retrenchment Up to 2010
Beyond 2010: The Struggle over Unions, Power, and Influence
Wisconsin’s Budget Repair Act: It’s About Money and Unions
Right-to-Work: Starve the Beast or Protect Workers’ Rights?
The Janus Decision: Free Speech and Free Riders
Questions Raised
VAMming Teachers: “Rank and Yank”
Charter Schools and Teacher Unions: A New Horizon for Unions?
#RedforEd: Teacher Protest/Strikes/Walkouts
Concluding Comments
Chapter 8.Teacher Tenure: Necessary Protection or Boondoggle for the Incompetent? The Courts and State Legislatures Respond—Joseph J. Onosko, Co-author
Herein Lies Tenure: RIP. Maybe?
What is Tenure?
Due Process: Procedural and Substantive Rights
Attacking Tenure through the Courts: Vergara v. State of California
The Complaint
The Tenure Analysis: Uber Due Process
1. The Tenure Statute
2. Dismissal Statutes
3. Last In, First Out (LIFO)
The Appeals
Legislative Attacks on Teacher Tenure
North Carolina’s Legislation is Declared Unconstitutional
Successful Legislative Attacks on Tenure: Louisiana & Kansas
Attacking Tenure: Context and Impact
Should Tenure Practices be Modified? Yes!
Section IV. Thoughts on an Uncertain Future
Chapter 9. Labor Relations in an Uncertain Time
An Uncertain Time for Teachers
Loosening the Grip of the Industrial Labor Model
Us-And-Them
Standardization v. Flexibility
The Role of Seniority
Retaining Effective Teachers: Serving the Common Good
The Union
Moving Forward
About the Authors
Other Books by Todd A. DeMitchell
Index
In Teachers and Their Unions: Labor Relations in Uncertain Times, Todd DeMitchell and his contributing authors have skillfully addressed the tangled maze of issues pertaining to professionalism and unionism in education. Particularly enlightening is the discussion of why the industrial union model of “us versus them” is not appropriate in school settings. This book is a must read for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners interested in the political and legal history, current status, and possible future of teachers’ unions in our nation.
Teacher unions have played an important role in the shaping of public education over the last half century and are largely responsible for the gains teachers have made in wages and working conditions. Nevertheless, collective bargaining in the schools is similar to collective bargaining in the industrial sector, which forces teachers to assume two sometimes conflicting roles: professional educator and union member. Professor DeMitchell's book traces the history of unionization among teachers in the United States and analyzes the ongoing political and legal challenges to the collective-bargaining model in the schools. His book is an important contribution to the literature on collective bargaining in the public sector and is a must read for anyone interested in labor relations and education policy.
This work is invaluable in labor relations, struggles within public education, and advocating for teachers’ rights. Moreover, it is a dialogical tool for providing clarity of knowledge about teacher unions and collective bargaining. This book serves as a practical guide for improving labor relations among educators (Han, 2019). Such a holistic approach provides an understanding of unseen politics within the teaching profession (Martínez, 2020). The book demands a metaphorical public amphitheater to echo how policies and practices are dealt with by unions within public schools and districts. Moreover, it is vital for the public to be conscious of how unions continue to be the avant garde of such struggles. Altogether, the book is organized with an introduction, four sections, and subsequent chapter(s) for each one.
Product Details
- Title : Teachers and Their Unions: Labor Relations in Uncertain Times
- Author: DeMitchell, Todd A.
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- Publication Date: 2020
- ISBN: 9781475854299