The Impact of Collective Bargaining and Urbanicity on the Late Hiring of Teachers

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that urban school districts hire teachers late due to issues related to district size and/or restrictions in collectively bargained teacher contracts affecting teacher hiring and transfers between schools. Our investigation of late teacher hiring and collective bargaining is based on a survey of 40 school districts that captured information about teacher transfer and hiring timelines. Findings indicate no differences between collective bargaining districts and non-bargaining districts in late teacher hiring. The findings confirm big differences in late hiring between suburbs and cities even when controlling for collective bargaining status and other contextual variables. Late school district budget action was also associated with late hiring.

Notes

1. While value-added research has drawn attention to the issue of “effective teachers,” it has also provided much evidence that teacher effects fade out over time. Typically it is assumed that the effects of a strong teacher persist in the children they teach, leading to claims that a series of effective teachers can eliminate the racial achievement gap. Most value-added research, however, estimates the fade out of teacher effects on students performance over time (Kane & Staiger, 2008; Viadero, 2009).