The authors examine a national sample of 80 collective bargaining agreements negotiated in 1981–82 by teacher organizations and school boards in large U.S. public school districts to determine how great was the educational policy content of those agreements. They find that educational policy provisions, defined as those that affect educational programs more than teachers' working conditions, are far more extensive than previous studies suggest. Of the contracts sampled, 46 percent are found to contain provisions regulating the curriculum; 59 percent, provisions regulating student placement; and 96 percent, provisions regulating teacher placement. The authors conclude that this extensive policy bargaining has reduced the capacity of many school districts to respond to changing expectations for public education.
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