10.2190/4DWK-XTX7-FM1Q-E3AT 4DWKXTX7FM1QE3AT 0 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONSTRAINED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: TEACHER - SCHOOL BOARD NEGOTIATIONS IN KANSAS 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=4DWKXTX7FM1QE3AT 1 DAYLIN J. BUTLER DAVID A. DILTS Economic approaches to collective bargaining generally assume that the parties are equal in knowledge, skill, information and power. Under these circumstances, settlements are expected to depend upon relative working conditions and cost of living, constrained by the employer's capacity to pay. In the public sector, departures from the assumed ideal bargaining conditions are common, and an ineffective bargaining process may result. Negotiations between public school teachers and the 304 school board in the State of Kansas have been examined as an example of these circumstances. Despite an outward commitment to collective bargaining, the outcomes (teacher salaries and benefits) are virtually independent of the factors that ought to explain them.