Description/Abstract:
ABSTRACT
THE INFLUENCE OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ON PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERSÆ SALARIES IN NEW JERSEY
Maurice Rucker
The purpose of this study is to focus on New Jersey experience to determine what has been the influence of collective negotiations on New Jersey teachersÆ salaries.
A cross-section multiple regression analysis was selected to test for the effects of teacher bargaining, with the year examined being the 1969-70 school term. A sample of 556 school districts from a total of 571 school districts in New Jersey were examined; 358 districts with contracts, 198 without contracts.
The independent variables used in this study were:
P/T pupil-teacher ratio
E district enrollment
ADV percentage of teachers with advanced degrees
EXP average years of experience of teachers in the school district
1960-61 mean salaries of school districts in 1960-61 school year
CTRCT 1 if a district had a contract, 0 otherwise
AV/P apportionment valuation/total pupils
IC/AV instructional costs/apportionment valuation
DEBT/P school debts/total pupils
Two categories of the salary-dependent variables were selected:
I. Salary points on the schedules for New Jersey school districts:
A. The minimum salary paid to a teacher with a BachelorÆs degree or its equivalent in a school district (base salary).
B. The minimum and maximum salary paid to a teacher with a MasterÆs degree or its equivalent in a school district.
C. The minimum and maximum salary paid to a teacher with a MasterÆs degree + 30-32 credits or its equivalent (BachelorÆs degree +60-64 credits) in a school district.
II. A. Average teacher salary for each school district.
B. Median teacher salary for each school district.
The model was first tested against the State sample of 556 school districts and explained between 28 and 53 percent of the variance in the dependent variables. The CTRCT variable was found to have been associated with an increase on New Jersey teachersÆ salaries of as much as 2.73 percent. A somewhat higher increase of as much as 3.92 percent was found in a subsample of low-ability-to-pay school districts (lowest 25 percent).
In an attempt to correct for spillover effects, the basic model was tested against a five-county subsample of generally small, rural school districts, relatively distant from large metropolitan areas. The CTRCT variable was found to be nonsignificant for all of the equations. The results may have been influenced by the relatively small sample (100 cases) and large variances.
Since cross-sectional data has been used in this study, caution should be used in generalizing about the effects of collective negotiation on New Jersey teachersÆ salaries. Conditions relevant to collective negotiations and New Jersey teachersÆ salaries may change over time and affect the impact of collective negotiations on New Jersey teachersÆ salaries in future years.
The conclusions about the effects of collective negotiations on New Jersey teachersÆ salaries are still only tentative and require further testing against experience with longitudinal data.