ABSTRACT

Many facets of the relationship between a board of education and its teachers are regulated by the Constitution and federal and state statutes. Within the boundaries set by these laws, the terms and conditions of a teacher’s employment are set by a contractual agreement. For more than three-fourths of teachers today, most of the terms of the agreement are determined through a process of collective bargaining in which a union represents and negotiates for all of a district’s teachers simultaneously. Ultimately, whether or not collective bargaining takes place, each teacher must enter into a contract with the employing board of education. This chapter considers the legal framework for collective bargaining and contract formation in education.