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State teacher union strength and student achievement

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  • Lott, Johnathan
  • Kenny, Lawrence W.

Abstract

A new and very small literature has provided evidence that students have lower test scores in larger school districts and in districts in which the district's teachers union has negotiated a contract that is more favorable to the district's teachers. The teachers’ unions at the state and national levels contribute a great deal of money to candidates for state and federal offices. This gives the unions some influence in passing (defeating) bills that would help (harm) the state's teachers. We introduce two novel measures of the strength of the state-wide teachers union: union dues per teacher and union expenditures per student. These reflect the key role of political influence for state-wide unions. We provide remarkably strong evidence that students in states with strong teachers unions have lower proficiency rates than students in states with weak state-wide teacher unions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lott, Johnathan & Kenny, Lawrence W., 2013. "State teacher union strength and student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 93-103.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:35:y:2013:i:c:p:93-103
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.03.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Caroline Minter Hoxby, 1996. "How Teachers' Unions Affect Education Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 671-718.
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    11. Southwick, Lawrence Jr & Gill, Indermit S., 1997. "Unified salary schedule and student SAT scores: Adverse effects of adverse selection in the market for secondary school teachers," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 143-153, April.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Torberg Falch & Astrid Marie Jorde Sandsør & Bjarne Strøm, 2017. "Do Smaller Classes Always Improve Students’ Long-run Outcomes?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(5), pages 654-688, October.
    2. Shi, Ying & Singleton, John D., 2019. "Expertise and Independence on Governing Boards: Evidence from School Districts," IZA Discussion Papers 12414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Bradley D. Marianno & Paul Bruno & Kathrine O. Strunk, 2021. "The Effect of Teachers’ Union Contracts on School District Efficiency: Longitudinal Evidence From California," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, February.
    4. Fatoş Silman & Ahmet Güneyli & Osman Vaiz & Nedime Karasel-Ayda, 2021. "Comparative Analysis of North and South Cyprus’ Teachers’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Unions," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    5. Corey A. DeAngelis & Christos Makridis, 2021. "Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Union Influence?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2266-2284, September.
    6. Wagner, Gary A. & Elder, Erick M., 2021. "Campaigning for retirement: State teacher union campaign contributions and pension generosity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Cowen, Joshua M. & Strunk, Katharine O., 2015. "The impact of teachers’ unions on educational outcomes: What we know and what we need to learn," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 208-223.
    8. Lyon, Melissa Arnold, 2021. "Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Cook, Jason & Lavertu, Stéphane & Miller, Corbin, 2021. "Rent-Seeking through collective bargaining: Teachers unions and education production☆," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Abadía Alvarado, Luz Karime & Gómez Soler, Silvia C. & Cifuentes González, Juanita, 2021. "The effect of teacher strikes on academic achievement: Evidence from Colombia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teacher unions; Student achievement; Student test scores; Teacher union dues; Unions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining

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