HOW STRONG ARE U.S. TEACHER UNIONS? A STATE-BY-STATE BY AMBER M. WINKLER, JANIE SCULL, COMPARISON & DARA ZEEHANDELAAR FOREWORD BY CHESTER E. FINN, JR. AND MICHAEL J. PETRILLI OCTOBER 2012 CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................4 Executive Summary ...........................................................................................................................................8 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Background ........................................................................................................................................................20 Part I: Evaluating Teacher Union Strength ..............................................................................................22 Methodology .............................................................................................................................................. 26 Part II: Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 32 America’s Strongest Teacher Unions ................................................................................................ 36 America’s Weakest Teacher Unions .................................................................................................... 41 Part III: Taking a Closer Look—Teacher Union Influence by Area ..................................................44 Area 1: Resources and Membership ...................................................................................................44 Area 2: Involvement in Politics ............................................................................................................ 45 Area 3: Scope of Bargaining ................................................................................................................. 48 Area 4: State Policies ..............................................................................................................................49 Area 5: Perceived Influence ..................................................................................................................50 Part IV: Conclusions and Takeaways ......................................................................................................... 53 Part V: State Profiles .......................................................................................................................................60 Alabama ........................................................................................................................................................ 61 a Alask ............................................................................................................................................................ 67 Arizona...........................................................................................................................................................73 Arkansas ....................................................................................................................................................... 79 California ...................................................................................................................................................... 85 Colorado ........................................................................................................................................................ 91 Connecticut ................................................................................................................................................. 97 Delaware .....................................................................................................................................................103 District of Columbia ............................................................................................................................... 109 Florida ...........................................................................................................................................................115 Georgia .........................................................................................................................................................121 Hawaii ........................................................................................................................................................... 127 . Idaho ............................................................................................................................................................133 Illinois............................................................................................................................................................139 Indiana .........................................................................................................................................................145 Iowa ................................................................................................................................................................151 Kansas .......................................................................................................................................................... 157 Kentucky .....................................................................................................................................................163 Louisiana .....................................................................................................................................................169 Maine ............................................................................................................................................................ 175 Maryland .......................................................................................................................................................181 Massachusetts ...........................................................................................................................................187 Michigan ......................................................................................................................................................193 Minnesota ...................................................................................................................................................199 Mississippi ..................................................................................................................................................205 Missouri .........................................................................................................................................................211 Montana .......................................................................................................................................................217 Nebraska ....................................................................................................................................................223 Nevada ........................................................................................................................................................229 New Hampshire .......................................................................................................................................235 New Jersey .................................................................................................................................................241 New Mexico ...............................................................................................................................................247 New York ....................................................................................................................................................253 North Carolina ..........................................................................................................................................259 North Dakota ............................................................................................................................................265 Ohio ..............................................................................................................................................................271 Oklahoma ................................................................................................................................................... 277 Oregon ........................................................................................................................................................283 Pennsylvania .............................................................................................................................................289 Rhode Island .............................................................................................................................................295 South Carolina ..........................................................................................................................................301 South Dakota ............................................................................................................................................307 Tennessee ...................................................................................................................................................313