State law is increasingly governing issues such as teacher evaluation, tenure laws, and dismissal procedures for teachers—issues once considered the purview of school districts, a report says.
The Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality says an analysis it did of state laws challenges the common assumption that teacher collective bargaining agreements are the biggest player in deciding what schools can and cannot do. The more closely the group looked at the actions taken by state legislatures and state school boards, the clearer it became that state law is the pre-eminent authority, it adds.
States that require or permit collective bargaining decide what issues can be negotiated.