Is Collective Bargaining Detrimental to Student Achievement?: Evidence from a National Study
Robert M. Carini
DOI: 10.2190/CN.32.3.d
Abstract
The two largest teacher unions in the United States claim millions of members and wield substantial political influence over educational policy. In light of the often negative claims about the operation of teacher unions in public schools, it is puzzling why so few scholars have empirically scrutinized whether collective bargaining shapes the academic performance of students. I used data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine whether collective bargaining was related to student achievement or student educational expectations. I employed multivariate regression techniques whenever possible to isolate possible effects of bargaining from those of confounding variables. Findings suggest that bargaining was not associated with either lower student achievement (math, reading, science, or history) or lower educational expectations between the eighth and tenth grades.
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