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How do digitally enabled movements of workers reshape, replace, or reinforce the role of unions? Based on a comparative case study of the 2018 #RedForEd teachers' strikes in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona, this article argues that despite the hierarchical and bureaucratic character of statewide teachers' unions, the infrastructure they provided to organize, connect, and legitimize teachers' actions was critical for statewide strikes. Facebook provided a forum for teachers to express frustrations, scale participation, and in some cases, organize actions. However, the unions' coordinating capacities were also central. These findings show how combining the mobilizing capacities of social media with existing movement infrastructure can facilitate collective action. In contrast to predictions of digitally enabled activism ushering in an era of "organizing without organizations," these findings suggest that 21st-century labor movements must meld old and new organizational forms, and not discard the century-and-a-half accumulation of labor infrastructure won by previous generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School board candidates supported by local teachers' unions overwhelmingly win, and we examine the causes and consequences of the “teachers' union premium” in these elections. First, we show that union endorsement information increases voter support. Although the magnitude of this effect varies across ideological and partisan subgroups, an endorsement rarely hurts a candidate's prospects with the electorate. Second, we benchmark the size of the endorsement premium to other well‐known determinants of vote choice in local elections. Perhaps surprisingly, we show the effect can be as large as the impact of shared partisanship, and substantially larger than the boost from endorsements provided by other stakeholders. Finally, examining real‐world endorsement decisions, we find that union support for incumbents hinges on self‐interested pecuniary considerations and is unaffected by performance in improving student academic outcomes. The divergence between what endorsements mean and how voters interpret them has troubling normative democratic implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation with supportive societal organizations has been shown to help states implement policies. This article demonstrates that opposed organizations can also play this role, lending their resources in exchange for inducements (induced coproduction). Whether these organizations accept those inducements is a function of their preferences regarding the policy's goals and implementation process. Inducements can overcome opposition to the latter but are less likely to respond to concerns about the former. Examining the subnational implementation of an education reform in Mexico, I show that opposition to goals predicts which teachers' union locals rejected offered inducements. A paired comparison of two most similar Mexican states illustrates how opposition to goals results in a rejection of inducements (Oaxaca), as well as how induced coproduction results in implementation (Coahuila). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional self‐esteem and job security perceptions of teachers are considered to be factors that increase their teaching performance and overall teaching quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between teachers' professional self‐esteem and job security perceptions in Turkey and to determine the impact of demographic characteristics on this relationship. In the study, the nested embedded mixed research method was preferred. For quantitative data, the professional self‐esteem and job security level of 660 respondent teachers were compared in terms of demographic characteristics (gender, marital status, education level, union membership, staff type, age, and years of service). For qualitative data, a structured interview form was utilized to examine the views of 54 participants about their profession. Our study reveals the intricate dynamics between teachers' professional self‐esteem and job security, emphasizing the role of gender, union membership, and career stage. The findings of the study revealed that female teachers demonstrated higher professional self‐esteem, likely due to their emotional intelligence and communication skills. Un‐ionized teachers reported greater professional self‐esteem, suggesting the positive influence of unions in safeguarding teachers' rights. Contract teachers, aware of job insecurity, exhibited elevated professional self‐esteem, indicating a drive for continuous skill development. Younger teachers (aged 21–30) displayed higher professional self‐esteem, emphasizing their enthusiasm and adaptability. These findings underscore the complex interplay between self‐esteem, job security, and external factors, with significant implications for teacher support and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal History of Latin American Education / Revista Historia de la Educación Latinoamericana is the property of Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

"Not Alone: LGB Teachers Organizations From 1970 to 1985" by Jason Mayernick examines the political organizing and activism of gay, lesbian, and bisexual K-12 teachers' groups in the United States during the period of 1970 to 1985. The study focuses on six LGB teachers' groups in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco, drawing on oral history interviews and archival material. Mayernick argues that the success of these groups rested on their ability to convince educational stakeholders that LGB teachers should be afforded the same rights and protections as any other educator. The book provides a detailed analysis of the historical context and highlights the neglected history of LGB teachers in LGBT history. However, it is important to note that the study primarily focuses on the activism of mostly White cisgender LGB teachers, and further research is needed to explore the impact on transgender teachers and LGB teachers of color. Overall, "Not Alone" contributes to the history of education, LGB history, labor history, and advocacy for the safety and protection of LGB K-12 teachers and students. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Accounts for failures of merit pay in educational settings were stagnated by the "political obstruction hypothesis," which blamed teacher unions for impeding the merit pay schemes from proper function. It required stronger evidence from both public and private schools to refute this hypothesis. Design/Approach/Methods: Accountability typology was conceptualized to uncover the power relations underpinning merit pay schemes, and teachers' motivational status was described from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to analyze the corresponding consequences. One public school and three private schools were purposefully sampled, and data included principal interviews, teacher interviews, school documents, and relevant policy documents. Findings: Our findings suggested an opposite conclusion to the "political obstruction hypothesis" that the more dependent on market, the more intense the conflict between external accountabilities and the nature of teaching. Thus, we supported the "nature of teaching hypothesis" that merit pay was inapplicable in educational settings due to the inherent contradictions between market accountability and professional accountability. Originality/Value: Policymakers and school administrators had been misled by the neoliberal initiative of borrowing merit pay into educational settings to promote the quality of teaching. Our findings provided strong evidence to refute this hypothesis and to restore the appreciation of professional autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis design and development research (DDR) involved analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) phases to develop an assessment framework for Grade 10 social studies. Data were collected from 10 social studies teachers in La Union, Philippines, through class observations, content analysis of lesson plans and periodic tests, and interviews. Findings of the study revealed that there were no formative and summative assessments used by teachers that could determine critical thinking by raising relevant questions and verifying the accuracy of information. Most of the teachers have encountered problems with students who have difficulty reading and creating assessments that ask students to verify the accuracy of information. Thus, an assessment framework was developed to help teachers create assessments that can determine critical thinking. The alignment of assessments created by teachers using the framework revealed that most of these assessments ask students to formulate solutions regarding controversial issues. However, verifying the accuracy of information was the least integrated critical-thinking skill by social studies teachers in creating assessments using the developed framework. Hence, the developed framework was improved to ensure that social studies teachers will integrate various critical-thinking skills like verifying the accuracy of information in creating assessments for controversial issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Internacional de Educación para la Justicia Social is the property of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After George Floyd was murdered by police, teachers, alongside the leaders of their unions and professional associations, confronted urgent calls to address racism in their communities, schools, and classrooms, just as they were concluding an academic year rendered chaotic by COVID-19. This article leverages four waves of semistructured interviews with teachers' union and association leaders embedded in 14 states and 45 school districts to investigate how and why teachers' unions responded to those calls during 2020 and 2021. Local leaders were more likely to have taken concrete steps if they were serving urban or suburban and predominantly Democratic communities. Most commonly, unions offered symbolic gestures of support or sought to develop their capacity to recognize and understand bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates headteachers' leadership and management roles and challenges in leading government secondary schools in Sindh, Pakistan. Employing a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology methodology, forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty headteachers. The thematic analysis of the data explored that headteachers were performing several academic and administrative-focused responsibilities, although their involvement was more administrative than academic and entailed more management than leadership. However, headteachers faced enormous challenges in leading and managing their schools. Some critical challenges were a lack of basics in terms of clean water, reliable electricity, and sufficient school furniture. Others included a lack of funds, a shortage of teachers, managing professionally weak teachers, teacher union issues and a lack of authority. Nevertheless, some headteachers were making admirable efforts to address these challenges. This research may open a window to understanding the roles and challenges of headteachers and inform policymakers of how-to better support headteachers in leading their schools successfully in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lexical choices in a law text contribute to the creation of discourse. The issuance of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation Law in Indonesia has resulted in a controversial public discussion concerning questionable educational practices in Indonesia. This study attempted to investigate the accumulated ideas that depict a represented discourse by exploring cohesive devices used in public interpretation regarding the impacts of the inclusion of Article 65 on education policy and practices according to the Job Creation Law. The data were garnered online from public figures' opinions shared in the Academic Association, Legal Aid Agency, Taman Siswa Family's Association, Indonesian Teacher Union, Ma'arif Nahdlatul Ulama, and Education Observer Group. The collected interpretation was analyzed by identifying how lexical features were used in the interpretation to construct ideas. The analysis indicates that the public figures' interpretation shared a common conception that the Job Creation Law intended to construct. The law signals the idea of administering education as a business, potentially affecting the uncontrolled establishments of associations and foundations that administer education in Indonesia. The public interpretation suggests that the Job Creation Law put aside the term "service" that the government should facilitate in the administration of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' associations have been a key agent in school reform processes. This research has focused on understanding their role in macro-social negotiation processes with the State, even though teachers' demands also occur within the school sphere and in the field of micro-political relations. Based on a qualitative study with narrative characteristics of 30 interviews with Chilean teachers, we aimed to describe and understand the role of organizations and organized teachers within the school context. The results show that organized teachers are recognized within the school micro-political framework, and that they are involved in negotiating power with the governing bodies and defending their peers from State regulations. The implications of teachers' associationism at another level of teachers' political struggles are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations play a critical role in developing citizen political participation. Though unions are one of the few organizations focused on the social and economic well-being of the less advantaged in America, little is known about the processes and mechanisms by which they promote the political participation of workers. We use data from semi-structured interviews with teacher candidates for state office in the 2018 midterm elections to describe how their unions shaped their political engagement and their candidacies in particular. We find that teachers' unions acted as "schools of democracy" in a series of three developmental stages revolving around (1) political awareness (knowledge, skills, and political identities), (2) political ambition (political efficacy and mobilization), and (3) political support (material resources and political capital). Our qualitative approach allows us to "peer into the black box" of candidate emergence to detail the long-term and often hidden mechanisms that enable unions to promote the political engagement of their members. We extend prior research on political organizations by illuminating how organizations help candidates—particularly those from underrepresented groups—develop their political skills, foster interest in public office, and ultimately support their campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoliberal globalization challenges the associations that historically group teachers to construct other forms of political participation of their militants in the virtual domain. However, there are few studies that include this register in the understanding of teacher protest and other forms of teacher associationism. Based on a digital ethnographic study that included analysis of network activity, conversation, interviews with users, and analysis of virtual networks, we sought to describe the action of a Chilean teachers' association. The results show that social networks allow us to understand other forms of political participation of teachers, which is strained in the construction of a majority force and the emergence of political subjectivity. These results discuss the opportunities that the virtual offers for organized action and, with it, responses to the crisis of teachers' associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Bangs has been involved with the OECD as a consultant for Education International, the teacher union global confederation, for many years. He attended the launch of PISA 2022 and here gives a personal commentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study involves a new school superintendent, unions, parent groups, and a school board. The case demonstrates how the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic impacted the relationships between a school board, teacher and administrator unions, parent organizations, and the school superintendent. It is the story of educational leadership under unprecedented pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that, in most of its member countries, the percentage of employed individuals who are members of trade unions has decreased significantly over the past few decades, with less than 20 percent. Some of the studies done on this subject unequivocally acknowledge that low membership turnover and dwindling trade union densities are caused by the incapacity to mobilize, organize, and serve members. In order to determine the most effective and efficient way to use these integrated digital strategies, this research investigates types of digital modes for organising, mobilising, and retaining new coming educators. Data were gathered through interviews with ten SADTU organisers and ten students from particular South. African universities, using the qualitative method. The data was analysed using a grounded (thematic) approach. The study's overall findings shows that digital technologies play a significant role in luring newer generations of trade union members. The findings of this study directly influenced the creation of more precise and efficient digital strategies for recruiting and organizing young emerging teachers, leading to an overall enhancement in the recruitment and retention of talent within the education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The unanticipated changes in state legislation in Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin in 2011–12 significantly restricted or entirely prohibited the collective bargaining rights of teachers. Considering these institutional changes as a natural experiment, we examine the causal impact of weakening teacher unionization on districts' spending on teacher compensation. Research Methods/Approach: We merge two nationally representative data sets from the United States: the Local Education Agency (School Districts) Finance Survey (F-33) and the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) in 2009–16. We identify the effect of the institutional changes regarding teachers' unions by employing a difference-in-difference estimation and synthetic control method, exploiting district-level national data on spending on teacher compensation. Findings: We find that the antiunion institutional changes substantially reduced districts' spending on both teacher salaries and benefits. The negative impact is larger for the districts located at the bottom of the distribution of spending than for districts at the top. Implications: Our study suggests that the antiunion legal changes will raise income inequality among teachers, and the increased inequality in compensation among teachers may translate into greater performance gaps between students, if teachers receiving lower compensation are more likely to quit teaching or to move to districts that pay more. Therefore, the negative effects of the antiunion legal changes be even greater in the long run if the current trends persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the rise of worker-to-worker organizing in recent years, where young, radicalized workers have initiated and driven high-profile strikes and union drives. Factors contributing to this rise include economic stagnation, a tight labor market, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a pro-union National Labor Relations Board. The use of social media platforms like Twitter has been effective in raising awareness and inspiring copycat campaigns. Worker-led unionization efforts have the potential to challenge management's portrayal of unions as third parties and expand the targets of unionization to include large, decentralized companies. However, these efforts still require resources and support from established unions to fulfill their potential. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Spanish Journal of Comparative Education / Revista Española de Educación Comparada is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to examine teachers' perceptions regarding the implementation of the redeployment policy in secondary schools of the Dutywa Education District, in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Teachers who have been in affected schools observed that teachers are reluctant to comply with the redeployment policy. The non-compliance by identified teachers, who are in excess, could have potentially have a negative impact on schools where they were expected to render services. Piaget's theory of constructivism was adopted to guide this research in its discussion of the emerged findings. A case-study research design was adopted. A qualitative research approach was employed and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from eight purposively sampled teachers. The collected data was analysed through a thematic approach. Prior to the collection of data from the participants, ethical measures such as seeking permission from the Department of Basic Education, principals and teachers was sought and granted to the researchers. Furthermore, participants were guaranteed of anonymity, confidentiality, non-violation of their rights, safety and non-interference in their teaching duties. It emerged that teachers perceived the redeployment policy as a means to remove them from their families and comfort zones. Furthermore, they felt insecure in their jobs, demotivated to perform their functions optimally, to the extent that some have suffered ill-health emanating from the stress and frustration brought about by the redeployment policy. It can be concluded that proper engagement with teachers by the Department of Basic Education officials, in making them understand and own the policy, is the key. Awareness campaigns for the affected parties, such as teachers, teacher unions, parents and departmental officials, are imperative to make the teachers aware of the significance of the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the underdevelopment seen in many rural parts of Zimbabwe, civil servants and teachers face challenges in their workplace and daily lives. This has happened because of the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe. There are gaps in the research showing that the continuation of educators in the teaching sector, specifically in the periphery, is at risk as they encounter various setbacks. This research aims to probe the challenges teachers in Zaka District face and the survival techniques they use to improve their living conditions. The study area is the Zaka area, one of Zimbabwe's impoverished rural areas. A qualitative approach was used to achieve the study objectives. Teachers, school principals, and teachers' union members were among the 20 people interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The results were categorised and analysed using a thematic approach. The results show that rural teachers in Zimbabwe face challenges such as lack of money, limited teaching resources, low salaries, and poor living conditions. However, because of their agency, they can work around these obstacles. The authors of this study claim that more resources are needed to improve the working environment of rural teachers. In addition, the study sought to find more practical ways to improve the well-being of these teachers. This study also recognises that this is a complicated process that requires prioritizing major economic advances. The study was significant as it revealed the obstacles and opportunities that teachers in the Zaka District regularly face. The results of this study can help local authorities, governments, and policymakers develop initiatives to address the problems teachers face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resurgence of debate around digitalisation and work has seen the role of unions in the 'social shaping of technology' attracting renewed interest. A key question concerns how far national institutions influence unions' ability to shape digitalisation in particular sectors and workplaces. Using a multi-level analysis that emphasises the inter-relationships between institutions, union power, resources and agency, this article compares the role of two unions in the banking sector in Norway and the UK. Drawing on interviews with national officers and workplace representatives, it addresses their involvement in decision-making processes and ability to influence outcomes in relation to digital monitoring and surveillance. The research findings highlight the continued salience of 'country effect' as evidenced by the Norwegian union's more prominent role in shaping better worker outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article focuses on the relation between new public management (NPM) reforms and changing patterns of industrial relations (IRs) and social dialogue in the Italian education system. Drawing on data from the research project 'Social dialogue and industrial relations in education: The challenges of multi-level governance and privatisation in Europe' (IR-EDUREFORM), it uses cultural political economy to explore the effects of autonomy, evaluation, and management as policy technologies on teacher unions' collective bargaining, workplace representation and industrial action. Through the Italian case, the study analyses how NPM reforms operated three distinctive transformations: decentralisation of bargaining to school level, juridification and individualisation of industrial action and a shift from collective to professional unions. Beyond critically exploring the implications of NPM reforms and the processes of decollectivation and individualisation of IRs and social dialogue in education, the study also highlights some potential for the emergence of novel sites for collective representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, teachers and organizations have tried to better prepare other teachers and all students to reckon with the movement in the classroom. In reaction to new pedagogical tools and practices developed by teachers, teachers' unions, and teachers' organizations, new policies have come about in state legislatures in 2021 and 2022 to limit education on racism and related topics. This paper reviews the current literature on how teachers and organizations have developed new pedagogical tools and strategies in response to BLM. It also includes a content analysis of thirty-nine legislative documents presented in 2021 and 2022, as well as a case study of Arizona and South Dakota, to study how states responded to the BLM movement and the efforts of educators who sought to reckon with it through critical pedagogy. This paper engages literature on social movements to observe that while the effects of BLM on relationships between educators and organizations have been largely positive, the movement's macro-level effects in the wider political climate have been of a negative, more anti-social nature. Furthermore, one can observe how "Critical Race Theory" has been mobilized in a discourse that can be characterized as "competitive victimhood," serving as a catch-all for concepts related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and other "threatening" ideas. This paper concludes that the slew of state-level legislation in the realm of public education in 2021 and 2022 is a response to the ideas advanced in the BLM movement, and the repetitive nature of the documents suggests organization by right-wing think tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the national Australian Association for the Teaching of English conference, discussing its structure and themes, including the rotational hosting by state English Teacher Association and Australian Literacy Educators' Association, with particular attention to the 2023 conference in Canberra. Topics include the conference theme "ACTion to impACT: English and Literacy that Empowers," sessions attended by the author, and reflections on the conference experience.

Copyright of Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores is the property of Dilemas Contemporaneos: Educacion, Politica y Valores and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article describes what it means to be a comprehensive teachers union, one that integrates industrial unionism, professional unionism, and social justice unionism, providing a historical context for this evolution. The author relates his own journey in becoming a union organizer and then in building public spaces for teachers to find their collective voice and power, first in more adversarial settings and then through labor-management collaboration in the professional setting of teaching and learning. He describes how the union becomes the vehicle for transforming teaching into a genuine profession and how this collective efficacy can be realized against a deeply entrenched top-down command-and-control system. The union cannot make this journey alone; it has to do it in partnership with school management and school boards through labor-management collaboration and a systems transformation vision and strategy. Ultimately, this is a strategy not only to democratize teaching but also to democratize learning for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the new neoliberalism leans ever more into failure and 'dead' economic ideas, it also relies on the estrangement and exhaustion of its subjects, who have been depleted in the wreckage of protracted austerity; crisis as stasis. Yet, even as 'zombie neoliberalism' threatens to make zombies of us, teacher unionists across the U.S. organize for a more vibrant future. Turning to the case of Newark, NJ, this article shows how teachers have embraced a strategy not of bypassing or abolishing the institutions most hollowed out by neoliberal market rule but of taking these institutions over and imagining them anew. To illustrate, I show how teachers scale up campaigns from the teachers' union to the classroom to the city, insisting each time that renewal and reckoning can transform these spaces into something more liberatory. Yet, teachers also encounter a depth of institutional inertia, detachment, and repression for which they are unprepared. The article argues that the zombie conjuncture requires an oppositional strategy of its own, one attuned to the numbing effects of crisis and the difficulties of working with the tools at hand, which have been thoroughly dulled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that all public sector workers, including teachers, operate in a Right to Work (RTW) framework. In the years since, teachers' unions have not experienced the mass exodus that some predicted, but should we expect them to? Using an original, historical data set spanning 1942–2017, I examine the effect of prior RTW policies on teachers' union membership and school expenditures. I find that RTW policies decrease teachers' union membership by roughly 43% and reduce educational expenditures by nearly $800 per pupil. Importantly, effects take roughly 10 years to clearly materialize. Additional analyses provide support for the notion that effects on school resources are driven, in part, by effects on union membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational policy research on teacher unionization in the United States has been dominated by two theoretical perspectives: rent-seeking and teacher voice. While bringing valuable insights to bear, these views have mutated into rigid and often ideologically charged alternatives with strong normative claims about teacher collective bargaining. Drawing from a political economy framework, this article advances a distinct theoretical perspective focusing on the progressive coalition building activities of teachers' unions (i.e., organizing and mobilizing to promote the interests of working people in policymaking). This perspective resolves previous theoretical anomalies of union behavior; provides many new avenues for research; and highlights distinct considerations for the practice of teacher organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private school leaders consider the potential benefits of private school choice program participation against costs associated with program regulations. Rational Choice Theory suggests leaders in states with conditions related to greater likelihood of program passage may be less willing to accept such regulations. To test this theory, we merge experimental data from a national study of private school choice program regulations with state-level data on political partisanship and union strength. We find limited evidence of heterogeneity by partisanship. We find leaders in states with weaker teachers' unions are more reluctant to accept standardized testing requirements and copay prohibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential services are commonly defined as those services whose interruption might inflict substantial harm on the population at large. Police, firefighters, and emergency medical professionals are paradigmatic examples of essential service providers. In recent years, some governments have resolved that formal primary education should be added to this list of essential services. The immediate practical implication of designating education as an essential service is that workers tasked with providing this service will face new limitations or even outright prohibitions on their freedom to strike. This paper analyzes the harm-based justification for declaring formal primary public education an essential service—that is, to consider if education is one service whose interruption might inflict substantial harm on the population at large. I argue that there is no compelling case to be made for changing the status of primary education from non-essential to essential and discuss why teachers' right to strike should be protected. On the one hand, it is unclear to what extent educators' participation in strikes can produce a type of harm that justifies limiting their right to strike. On the other hand, restricting that right has costs that must be weighed in any plausible harm-based account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]