Are Charter Schools Bound By School District Collective .

Education Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 Fax: 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgAre charter schools bound by school districtcollective bargaining agreements?October 2010At the present time, 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted charter schoollaws, so this database contains information only for them. It does not contain any information for the 11states that have not enacted charter school laws.Maintenance of this database is a collective effort between ECS and the National Alliance for PublicCharter Schools. Please contact Molly Ryan, 303.299.3614 or mryan@ecs.org with questions orcomments about the database.Are charter schools bound by school district collective o. A charter school's teachers have the same option to form aunion as other school district employees. The drafters of theschool's charter decide whether the charter school will remaincovered by the school district's collective bargaining agreement orwill have the right to organize independently. When a charterschool is organized independently, it is generally subject to thestate's education collective bargaining laws.ColoradoNoConnecticutA local charter school's teachers are covered by the school districtcollective bargaining agreement, but such agreement may bemodified by a majority of a charter school's teachers and thecharter school's governing council. A state charter school's teachersmay negotiate as a separate unit with the charter school governingcouncil or work independently.DelawareThe employees of a conversion charter school who are employedby the school district are bound by school district collectivebargaining agreements. The employees of a conversion charterEducation Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 fax 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgPage 1

school who are employed by the charter school and the employeesof a start-up charter school are not bound by school districtcollective bargaining agreements. These employees may negotiateas a separate unit with the charter school governing body or workindependently.District of ColumbiaNoFloridaNo. A charter school's teachers may work independently or bargaincollectively.GeorgiaNoHawaiiYes. The negotiated master agreements apply to charter schoolemployees unless the exclusive union representatives and thecharter school's governing board enter into supplementalagreements that contain cost and non-cost items to facilitatedecentralized decision-making.IdahoNo. The staff of the charter school is considered a separate unit forpurposes of collective bargaining.IllinoisNo. However, any bargaining unit of charter school employees thatis formed must be separate and distinct from any bargaining unitsformed from employees of a school district in which the charterschool is located.IndianaA conversion charter school's teachers are bound by collectivebargaining agreements, but they may seek a waiver from theagreements. A start-up charter school's teachers may negotiate asa separate unit with the charter school governing council or workindependently.IowaYesKansasYes. A charter school's teachers remain covered by the schooldistrict collective bargaining agreement, although a waiver may begranted if specified in charter.LouisianaYes. A charter school's teachers are covered by the school districtcollective bargaining agreement, unless exemption is negotiatedwith the sponsor and specified in the charter.MarylandYes. Although a charter school and a local teachers' union maymutually agree to negotiate amendments to the existingagreement to address the needs of the particular public charterschool.Education Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 fax 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgPage 2

MassachusettsHorace Mann charters remain bound by school district collectivebargaining agreements to the extent provided by the terms of theircharters. Commonwealth charters are not bound by theseagreements.MichiganTeachers in charter schools authorized by local school boards arecovered by school district collective bargaining agreements. Othercharter school teachers are not, and may negotiate as a separateunit with a charter school governing body or work independently.MinnesotaNo. A charter school's teachers may negotiate as a separate unitwith the charter school governing body or work independently. Acharter school's bargaining unit may remain part of the schooldistrict unit if teachers, the charter school governing board, thelocal school board and the teachers' union in the school districtagree.MissouriNoNevadaThe governing body of a charter school may make all decisionsconcerning the terms and conditions of employment with thecharter school and any other matter relating to employment withthe charter school. In addition, the governing body may make allemployment decisions with regard to its employees, unless acollective bargaining agreement entered into by the governingbody contains separate provisions relating to the discipline oflicensed employees of a school. However, an employee who is on aleave of absence from a school district continues, while he is onleave, to be covered by the collective bargaining agreement of theschool district only with respect to any matter relating to his statusor employment with the district.New HampshireNo. Any teacher may choose to be an employee of a charter school;in which case such teacher will have the rights of a teacher in publiceducation to join or organize collective bargaining units.New JerseyTeachers in converted public schools are covered by the schooldistrict collective bargaining agreement. Teachers in start-ups mayremain covered by the school district collective bargainingagreement, negotiate as a separate unit with charter schoolgoverning board or work independently.New MexicoNoNew YorkConversion charter schools are bound by existing school districtcollective bargaining agreements. Start-up charter schools enrollingup to 250 students in the 1st year are not deemed members of anyEducation Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 fax 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgPage 3

existing collective bargaining unit representing employees of theschool district in which the charter school is located; the charterschool and its employees are not subject to any existing collectivebargaining agreement between the school districts and itsemployees.Start-up charter schools with enrollments larger than 250 aredeemed to be represented in a separate negotiating unit at thecharter school by the same employee organization, if any, thatrepresents like employees in the school district in which suchcharter school is located. However, this representation may bewaived in up to 10 charters issued by the State University of NewYork, is not applicable to the renewal or extension of a charter anddoes not subject such a charter school to any collective bargainingagreement between any school district and its employees or makesuch a charter school part of any negotiating unit at such schooldistrict. The charter school may, in its sole discretion, choosewhether or not to offer the terms of any existing collectivebargaining to school employees.North CarolinaNoOhioFor start-up schools, teachers may work independently or form acollective bargaining unit. Conversion schools are subject to aschool district's collective bargaining agreement, unless a majorityof the charter school's teachers petition to work independently orform their own unit.OklahomaNo. However, a charter school may choose to be a part of acollective bargaining agreement.OregonNo. However, a charter school's teachers may participate inexisting collective bargaining units or form collective bargainingunits that are separate from existing ones. Also, if a school board isnot the sponsor of the charter school, the school board is not theemployer of the employees of the charter school and thus theschool board cannot collectively bargain with the employees of thecharter school.PennsylvaniaNo. However, a charter school's staff may bargain collectively, butnot as part of the school district's collective bargaining unit.Puerto RicoNoRhode IslandYes. A charter school's teachers are covered by the school districtcollective bargaining agreement.South CarolinaA conversion charter school's teachers remain covered by theEducation Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 fax 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgPage 4

school district employment policy. A start-up charter school'steachers may remain covered by the school district employmentpolicy, negotiate as separate unit with charter school governingbody or work independently.TennesseeNo. A charter school's employees may form a bargaining unit,which may elect to represent themselves in negotiations with thecharter school's governing body, or they may elect to berepresented by any qualified person or organization, including thelocal bargaining unit within the school district. A charter school'sbargaining unit may bargain only with the governing board of thecharter school, and not with the local school board.TexasTeachers at school-district approved charter schools are schooldistrict employees. Teachers at open-enrollment charter schoolswork independently.UtahNoVirginiaYesWisconsinYes. For charter schools that are part of a school districtWyomingNo 2010 by the Education Commission of the States (ECS). All rights reserved. ECS is the only nationwide,nonpartisan interstate compact devoted to education.ECS encourages its readers to share our information with others. To request permission to reprint or excerpt someof our material, please contact the ECS Information Clearinghouse at 303.299.3675 or e-mail ecs@ecs.org.Equipping Education Leaders, Advancing IdeasEducation Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80203-3442 303.299.3600 fax 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgPage 5

whether or not to offer the terms of any existing collective bargaining to school employees. North Carolina No Ohio For start-up schools, teachers may work independently or form a collective bargaining unit. Conversion schools are subject to a school district's collective bargaining agreement, unless a majority