The Impact of Collective Bargaining and Urbanicity on the Late Hiring of Teachers

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that urban school districts hire teachers late due to issues related to district size and/or restrictions in collectively bargained teacher contracts affecting teacher hiring and transfers between schools. Our investigation of late teacher hiring and collective bargaining is based on a survey of 40 school districts that captured information about teacher transfer and hiring timelines. Findings indicate no differences between collective bargaining districts and non-bargaining districts in late teacher hiring. The findings confirm big differences in late hiring between suburbs and cities even when controlling for collective bargaining status and other contextual variables. Late school district budget action was also associated with late hiring. REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREAlthough out-of-school factors are the major determinants of achievement gaps, recent research using value-added models has focused much attention on the role that teachers play as the most important school resource contributing to student achievement growth. 1 Teacher selection, hiring, training, evaluation, and labor union contracts are of increasing importance, potentially resulting in long-term gains in student outcomes. It will take a multifaceted effort to recruit and keep well-qualified teachers in urban schools, including improving school and neighborhood safety, establishing and maintaining orderly schools, and

The Hiring Process Matters: The Role of Person–Job and Person–Organization Fit in Teacher Satisfaction

“…Finally, school board members and district leaders should consider the timing of budget decisions related to personnel. Researchers have demonstrated that approving budgets late in the summer is a primary contributor to rushed hiring decisions (Gewertz, 2003; Liu et al, 2008; Loubert & Nelson, 2010; Reichardt et al, 2006), possibly resulting in decreased P-J fit, P-O fit, and satisfaction. Research in education and other fields has demonstrated that hiring employees who have high levels of P-O and P-J fit can have positive effects on outcome variables such as satisfaction (Davis, 2006; Johnson et al, 2004; Rehfuss et al, 2012; Wheeler et al, 2007).…”

“…Unfortunately, districts with high populations of students who were economically disadvantaged tended to hire the majority of their teachers late in the hiring season (Engel, 2012; Gewertz, 2003; Liu et al, 2008; Reichardt et al, 2006), with as many as 20% of teachers being hired after the beginning of the school year (Engel, 2012). Some researchers have noted that funding issues might be the primary reason districts have to wait to hire teachers (Gewertz, 2003; Liu et al, 2008; Loubert & Nelson, 2010; Reichardt et al, 2006). The uncertainty of personnel budgets can push back the beginning of the hiring process and reduce the pool of available applicants (Reichardt et al, 2006).…”