Teacher Unions and No Child Left behind Reconstitution: The Calm before the Storm

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of teacher unions, school reform and the No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, this article highlights the legal challenges that school leaders are likely to experience as they attempt to implement No Child Left Behind Act's reconstitution mandates in failing schools, while not infringing on teachers’ legal rights. There is also a discussion of the discriminatory impact of NCLB reconstitution mandates on teachers of color and the legal and policy implications.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S. Ct. 2701 (1972).

Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 74 S. Ct. 693 (1954).

Braceras

J. C.

(2002). Killing the messenger: The misuse of disparate impact theory to challenge high-stakes educational tests. Vanderbilt Law Review, 55, 1111–1203.

Brock v. Roadway Express, 481 U.S. 252, 107 S. Ct. 174 (1987).

Buchanan v. Little Rock School District of Pulaski County, Arkansas, 84 F.3d 1035 (1996).

Burroughs

(2008). Arguments and evidence: The debate over collective bargaining's role in public education. Education Policy Brief, 6(8), 1–20.

Casella

(2001). Being down: Challenging violence in urban schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

Clune

W. H.

(1993). The best path to systemic educational policy: Standard/centralized or differentiated/decentralized? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15(3), 233–254.

Colasanti

(2007). Teacher tenure/continuing contract laws. Retrieved from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/75/64/7564.htm

10.

Crisafulli

T. P.

(2006). No educator left unscathed: How no child left behind threatens educators’ careers. Brigham Young Education and Law Journal, 2, 613–637.

11.

Darden

E. C.

(2008). Restructuring: NCLB's Final Solution. Forecast, 6(1), 1–4. Retrieved from http://www.nyssba.org/clientuploads/forecast%20pdf/forecast0208.pdf

12.

Dodson

M. E.

III (2002). The impact of the minimum wage in West Virginia: A test of the low-wage area theory. Journal of Labor Research, 23, 25–40.

13.

Donahoo v. Board of Education, 109 N.E.2d 787 (Ill. 1952).

14.

Dunbar

, & Villarruel

F. A.

(2002). Urban school leaders and the implementation of zero-tolerance policy: An examinations of its implications. Peabody Journal of Education, 77(1), 82–104.

15.

Edelman

, Uggen

, & Erlanger

(1999). The endogeneity of legal regulation: Grievance procedures as rational myth. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 406–454.

16.

Essex

(2000). Zero tolerance approach to school violence: Is going too far? American Secondary Education, 29, 37–40.

17.

Ewich

, & Silbey

(1998). The common place of law: Stories from everyday life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

18.

Fleming

M. B.

(2009). Morals clauses for educators in secondary and postsecondary schools: Legal applications and constitutional concerns. Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal, 1, 67–102.

19.

Fuller

, & Mitchell

(2006). Collective bargaining: The harsh glare of state accountability issues. Education Next, 6(3), 26–34.

20.

Garth

, & Sarat

(1998). How does law matter? Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

21.

Hass

, Wilson

, Cobb

, & Rallis

(2005). One hundred percent proficiency: A mission impossible. Equity and Excellence, 38(3), 180–189.

22.

Hoff

(2007). Growth models: Gaining in accountability debate. Education Week, 27(16), 22–25.

23.

Hoxby

C. M.

(1996). How teachers’ unions affect education production. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111(3), 671–718.

24.

Imber

, & Van Geel

(2000). A teacher's guide to education law. Philadelphia: Erlbaum.

25.

Jennings

(2002). Stricter federal demands, bigger state role: What to expect from the no child left behind act. State Education Standard, 3(2), 24–28.

26.

Judson

, Schwartz

, Allen

, & Miel

(2008). Rescuing distressed schools. American School Board Journal, 194(4), 42–43.

27.

Keller

(2006, April 4). Report: NCLB law hasn't superseded contracts. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/04/05/30bargain.h25.html&destination=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/04/05/30bargain.h25.html&levelId=2100

28.

Kim

J. S.

, & Sunderman

(2005). Measuring academic proficiency under the no child left behind act: Implications for educational equity. Educational Researcher, 34(8), 3–13.

29.

Klingner

D. E.

(1993). Public sector collective bargaining. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 13(3), 19–28.

30.

Kurth

(1987). Teacher unions and excellence in education: An analysis of the decline in SAT scores. Journal of Labor Research, 8, 351–367.

31.

Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 96 S. Ct. 2562 (1976).

32.

Mazmanian

, & Sabatier

(1981). Effective policy implementation. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

33.

McNeal

, & Dunbar

(2010). In the eyes of the beholder: Urban student perceptions of zero tolerance policy. Urban Education, 45(3), 293–311.

34.

Mead

(2007). Easy way out: Restructured usually means little has changed. Education Next, 1, 52–56.

35.

Milne

(2002). Making policy: A guide to the federal government's policy process. Ottawa, ON: The Centre.

36.

National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act), ch. 372, 49 Stat. 449 (1935).

37.

Neil

(2003). Leaving children behind: How No Child Left Behind will fail our children. Phi Delta Kappan, 85(3), 225–228.

38.

No Child Left Behind Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq. (2002).

39.

O'Connor v. Pierson, 426 F.3d 187 (2d Cir. 2005).

40.

Odland

(2007). NCLB: Year for change. Childhood Education, 84(1), 30–42.

41.

Oluwole

J. O.

, & Green

(2009). State takeovers and school districts, race, and the equal protection clause. Indiana Law Review, 42, 343–409.

42.

Orazem

P. F.

, & Mattila

J. P.

(2002). Minimum wage effects on hour, employment, and number of firms: The Iowa case. Journal of Labor Research, 23, 3–23.

43.

Peltzman

(1993). The political economy of the decline of American public education. Journal of Law and Economics, 36(1), 331–370.

44.

Rapp

J. A.

(2001). Education law. Albany, NY: Lexis.

45.

Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996).

46.

Roots

(2000). The student loan debt crisis: A lesson in unintended consequences. Southwestern University Law Review, 29, 501–527.

47.

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 193, S. Ct. 1278 (1973).

48.

Schimmel

, Fischer

, & Stellman

L. R.

(2008). School law: What every educator should know. Columbus, OH: Allyn & Bacon.

49.

Siddle-Walker

(2001). African American teaching in the South: 1940-1960. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 751–779.

50.

Spitser

(2007). School reconstitution under No Child Left Behind: Why school officials should think twice. UCLA Law Review, 54, 1339–1382.

51.

Stephey

(2008, November 17). A brief history of tenure. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1859505,00.html

52.

St. Louis Teacher Union, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO v. Board of Education of City of St. Louis, 652 F.Supp. 42 (1987).

53.

Thomas v. Smith, 897 F.2d 154 (5th Cir. 1989).

54.

Tillman

(2004). The (un)intended consequences? The impact of Brown v. Board of Education decision on the employment status of Black educators. Education and Urban Society, 36, 280–303.

55.

Tomlins

C. L.

(1985). The state—the unions. Labor movement in labor relations, law, and the organized America, 1880-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

56.

Van Berkum

D. W.

, Richardson

M. D.

, & Lane

K. E.

(1994). Professional development in educational administration programs: Where does it exist? Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED376566)

57.

Vedder

, & Gallaway

(2002). The minimum wage and poverty among full-time workers. Journal of Labor Research, 23, 41–49.

58.

Verdugo

R. R.

(2002). Race-ethnicity, social class, and tolerance. Education and Urban Society, 31(1), 50–75.