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School Districts and Teachers Unions

The formal policies and agreements that establish the work rules for teachers have important consequences for what schools can and cannot do. Despite their importance, collective bargaining agreements and personnel policies too often escape public scrutiny.

Tr3 Database

Our Tr3 database facilitates exploration of contracts from more than 100 large school districts across the country.

• View your district's policies
• Compare policies across districts
• Learn about promising practices
• Find out how state policies shape what happens at the local level

District Policy Analyses

NCTQ is currently working in communities to provide customized analysis of district human capital policies, primarily focusing on the teachers' contract. These reports serve as a starting point to refocus district efforts on teacher quality.

Specifically the reports shed a light on what policies are working well and which are not, also comparing a district's policies with those of surrounding districts and other similar districts nationally. We lay out a blueprint of suggested improvements and highlight possible solutions that have been successful elsewhere.

These reports helped shape the scope of teacher contract negotiations and have resulted in major reforms in urban school districts around the country.

Recent Reports:

• School District of Philadelphia, PA (May 2013)
• Oakland Unified School District, CA (Mar 2013)
• Miami-Dade County Public Schools, FL (Jan 2012)
• Springfield, MA Public Schools (October 2011)
• Los Angeles Unified School District (June 2011)
• Kansas City, Missouri School District (January 2011)
• Baltimore City Public Schools, MD (June 2010)
• Boston Public Schools, MA (February 2010)
• Seattle Public Schools, WA (October 2009)
• Hartford Public Schools, CT (May 2009)

Learn more about this work.

Issue Papers

In addition, NCTQ produces issue papers, exploring policies and best practices, primarily drawn from the data in in our Tr3 database.

• The Recession's Impact on Teacher Salaries (May 2013)
  This report takes an in-depth look at how the 2007 recession impacted teacher salary growth in 41 large school districts across the country.
• A Closer Look at Teacher Leave Benefits in Tr3 Districts (August 2012)
  This paper counts up and compares the amount of paid general leave teachers get in TR3 districts—including sick leave, personal leave, and additional leave for things like religious days, family illness, and attending graduations.
• Restructuring teacher pay to reward excellence (December 2010)
  This paper illustrates ways districts can rethink their teacher payrolls and salary schedules to find innovative ways to reward teacher excellence, absent additional funds.
• Bumping HR: Giving Principals More Say Over Staffing (October 2010)
  This brief identifies the contractual and institutional obstacles that stand in the way of principals having the authority to determine their staffs.
• District Data Check-List (August 2010)
  Many districts struggle with multiple—and often incompatible—data systems for tracking payroll, collecting teacher evaluations, recruiting and hiring. This following checklist outlines the goals, data and questions to guide districts in developing a smart human capital strategy.
• Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking Last-Hired, First Fired Policies (February 2010)
  This analysis explores the national landscape of teacher layoff policies, highlighting alternatives and compromises to "last in, first out" policies.
• Invisible Ink in Collective Bargaining Agreements (July 2008)
  While the local bargaining table is still the most important venue for negotiating some things like annual pay raises, it is not where the fundamental factors shaping teacher quality get decided.

2009 Research Competition

In 2009, NCTQ issued a call for proposals to generate academic research using the TR3 database that would increase knowledge about the impact of collective bargaining agreements, school board policies and state laws on teacher quality and student achievement. Finalists from universities across the nation defended their original research before a jury of national experts and competed for a top prize of $15,000.

• Learn more and read the papers