A Peak Into Monopoly Bargaining Contracts

It is a well-known fact that teacher union power rests in their ability to force teachers and administrators to abide by the monopoly bargaining agreement. Mike Antonucci takes a look at some things in appearing in some of the largest school districts in the country’s contracts.

The collective bargaining agreements for classroom teachers in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago add up to 825 pages. This substantial compendium of dos and don’ts constrains school and classroom flexibility. It’s also ironic: The preamble to the United Federation of Teachers contract in New York states, “Layers of bureaucratic impediments must be peeled away so that flexibility, creativity, entrepreneurship, trust and risk-taking become the new reality of our schools.”