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From the Schoolhouse to the Statehouse: Teacher Union Political Activism and U.S. State Education Reform Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Michael Hartney  and
Patrick Flavin
Michael Hartney*
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, IN, USA
Patrick Flavin
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
*
Michael Hartney, University of Notre Dame, Department of Political Science, 217 O'Shaughnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 Email: mhartney@nd.edu
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Abstract

Elementary and secondary education policy making in the U.S. states is heavily influenced by the political bargaining of various actors, with teacher unions one of the most important actors. Yet previous studies that assess the impact of teacher unions on education reform use problematic measures of their direct political influence, instead opting for broader measures of membership or collective bargaining power. By contrast, the authors measure teacher union political activity by calculating the percentage of campaign contributions to candidates for state office that come from teacher unions. Using this measure, the authors find that increased teacher union political activity greatly reduces the chances that states enact reform-oriented education policies such as school choice and performance pay for teachers, while previous measures of teacher union strength bear little relationship to a state's adoption of these reform policies. These findings highlight the importance of paying careful attention to how political influence is operationalized in studies that assess the role organized interests play in shaping U.S. state policies.

Keywords

education policyschool reformteacher unionspublic sector unionsinterest groups
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 251 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011

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