Following upon previous state efforts to learn more about the impact of collective bargaining agreements, Rhode Island-based Education Partnership offers a useful analysis in Teacher Contracts: Restoring the Balance, analyzing ten of the state’s 36 school districts.
The report concludes that teacher contracts “focus on adult entitlement to a stunning degree,” and “are not about children, accountability and the improvement of our public education system.”
The study also finds that teachers are given “generous paid time off” and “incredible health and retirement packages.” From the description, one might expect to see a photo spread in the next issue of Vanity Fair, “The Luxury Life of a Teacher.” But hyperbole aside, teachers’ generous pensions and benefits are serious sweeteners that often go unmentioned in the tiffs over teacher pay.
Three fairly standard policy recommendations are offered: creating flexibility and autonomy in schools; lowering “cost drivers in non-productive areas like higher salaries”(that one would seem to depend on who is getting the higher salaries!); and decreasing the unions’ influence in governing school operations and resources.
The Educational Partnership’s members are Delaware businesses; it is affiliated with the Business Roundtable and Public Education Network.