What is the Teacher and Administrator Contract Database?
The ConnCAN Teacher and Administrator Contract Database is a comprehensive collection of the state’s collective bargaining agreements, or contracts, for teachers and school administrators from throughout the state. This database presents information about terms and conditions of employment and overall statewide trends found in the contracts.
These contracts are negotiated at various times throughout the year, and generally run for a three-year period. Approximately 1/3 of the state’s teacher and administrator contracts are up for negotiation annually. This database will be regularly updated as renegotiated contracts become available.
Why create a teacher contract database?
ConnCAN created this Teacher Contract Database to provide free, public access to teacher collective bargaining agreements for every single public school district in Connecticut that has them. We also publish analysis of the trends found in these agreements. Teacher contracts help shape local district education policy. As such, we believe that providing access to this information in a user-friendly, web-based form will be an essential tool to inform the public dialogue on district-level policy change.
How did ConnCAN obtain all of these contracts?
We obtained contracts from district websites when possible. If we could not find the contract online, we requested contracts from the district’s human resources or labor relations department, and districts sent us copies by mail, fax or email. Although contracts are public documents subject to disclosure under Connecticut’s public disclosure laws, the overwhelming majority of Connecticut’s public school districts have provided these contracts voluntarily and expeditiously, without requiring a public disclosure request.
How are these contracts negotiated and who negotiates them?
These contracts are the employment agreements negotiated between two parties. The local or regional board of education represents the school district. The bargaining unit, or union, represents the teaching or administrative staff. These contracts outline the terms and conditions of employment for teachers and administrators in the district.
The two unions representing teachers in Connecticut are the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) and the American Federation of Teachers-CT (AFT), the state affiliates of their respective national organizations, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). A number of different bargaining units represent school administrators, including the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators - a state affiliate of the national AFL-CIO union.
This database includes collective bargaining agreements for teachers and administrators below the rank of superintendent. We do not collect individual contracts, which are sometimes negotiated for non-superintendent administrators, particularly in smaller districts. We also do not collect superintendent contracts, which are negotiated exclusively on an individual basis.
What is included in this database?
This database compiles collective bargaining agreements and summarizes information on key provisions of these contracts, including workday and length, salary, insurance, benefits, evaluations, layoffs , transfers, and more.
This database does not include provisions on: grievance procedures, protection, personal injury, harassment, facilities, or commitments outside the work day such as after-school meetings. It also excludes issues of “academic freedom” (freedom from union interference in academic matters), such as matters related to the grading of students, curriculum, and instruction.
With the exception of the “District Snapshot” section on the Find & Compare District webpage, the database contains information only from the district’s collective bargaining agreement. The data in the “District Snapshot” section comes from the Connecticut State Department of Education and is the most recent publicly available data.
What if my town/district is not listed in the Database?
If your town is not listed in the database, first check to see whether your town is part of a multi-town school district. In the case of administrator contracts, it may be that your town/district does not have a collective bargaining agreement for administrators, and contracts are negotiated on an individual basis. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at research@conncan.org.
Where could I find other contracts not included in the database?
You can obtain all contracts and supplemental documents from your school district or local union affiliate’s website or by requesting a copy from your school district’s human resource or labor relations department. Such documents are subject to the state’s public disclosure laws.
Do the rules and policies in this database reflect what actually happens in schools?
Not always. This database captures policies established by collective bargaining agreements, which may not always reflect actual practice. For example, the contract provisions that set teacher work hours do not always reflect the actual hours that many teachers work each day. We also know that some district decisions are made outside of the contract and consequently may not be captured here.
Does this database favor certain contract provisions or types of contracts over others?
No. This database is a presentation of factual information about each contract in the state, and it does not rank, rate, or judge the contracts. We have highlighted several unique aspects of or trends across contracts in our Analysis section.
Click here for a .PDF of these frequently asked questions.