An examination of the effects of H.B. 1525, the Illinois Labor Relations Act, on teachers, school administrators and the public in the state of Illinois

Includes bibliographical references.The problem with which the study was concerned was to determine whether a state labor relations act could help teachers in the state of Illinois achieve better conditions of employment, the protection of regulation by unfair labor practices, through the right to organize for collective negotiations. This problem was divided into four subproblems. The subproblems attempted to answer the question from three different points of view, the teachers' views as labor, administrators' views as management, and legislators' views to represent the public interest. The subproblems dealt with in the study included the effects of a state labor relations act to help teachers achieve better working conditions, the increased effectiveness of administrators in dealing with teacher problems and community relations, and whether a state labor relations act would benefit the public by improving education even though the cost of education might increase. Data was obtained by sending three specially designed questionnaires, Six counties, one from each geographic region designated by the State Department of Public Instruction, were randomly selected. Teacher lists were obtained from the county superintendents of each of the randomly chosen counties. Twenty teachers teaching grades kindergarten through twelve in public schools were randomly chosen from each sample county list. Each of the teachers, a total of 120 teachers in the state, was sent a questionnaire. Administrators were selected from a list supplied by the State Department of Public Instruction, Ten administrators were randomly selected from each of the six regions. The 60 administrators were sent an administrator questionnaire. State legislators, all members of the 75th General Assembly, were chosen to represent the public opinion. Legislators in both the House and the Senate vie re assigned a number. All even numbered legislators were selected giving a total sample group of 120 legislators. A third distinct questionnaire was sent to each member of this group. All three of the questionnaires contained items asking for background information. All other questions were designed to yield a yes or no response. The responses were tallied and percentages were derived and reported in table form together with a discussion of the results. The study showed that teachers and. administrators were in favor of legislation giving teachers the right to organize. However, these educators did not want to be subject to labor legislation since to them labor legislation connotes tough unionism. Instead they favor special legislation designed for teachers only. It was concluded in the study that such special legislation would give teachers the same benefits that labor derives from unionism yet enable them to maintain an aura of professionalism. The legislators were in favor of teachers having the right to organize although they did not feel the public would support House Bill 1525 in reference to teachers. Teachers, administrators, and legislators seem to perceive the effects of legislation such as H.B. 1525 as desirable, Teachers are most enthusiastic in support of legislation which would give them the right to organize collectively in professional units for the purpose of professional negotiations. Administrators in this study seemed less optimistic about the effects of such legislation but agreed that legislative guidelines are necessary. Legislators also agreed that some legislation was necessary and desirable. Therefore, the author believes this study gives strong evidence to legislators that there is a need and desire for special legislation guaranteeing teachers the right to organize for collective negotiations.M.S. (Master of Science