421 Leadership and Policy in Schools, 9:421–440, 2010 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1570-0763 print/1744-5043 online DOI: 10.1080/15700760903342384 NLPS 1570-0763 1744-5043 Leadership and Policy in Schools, Vol. 9, No. 4, Aug 2010: pp. 0–0 Leadership and Policy in Schools The Impact of Collective Bargaining and Urbanicity on the Late Hiring of Teachers Collective Bargaining and the Late Hiring of Teachers Linda Loubert and F. Howard Nelson LINDA LOUBERT Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA F. HOWARD NELSON American Federation of Teachers, Washington, District of Columbia, USA It is commonly assumed that urban school districts hire teachers late due to issues related to district size and/or restrictions in col- lectively bargained teacher contracts affecting teacher hiring and transfers between schools. Our investigation of late teacher hiring and collective bargaining is based on a survey of 40 school dis- tricts that captured information about teacher transfer and hiring timelines. Findings indicate no differences between collective bar- gaining districts and non-bargaining districts in late teacher hir- ing. The findings confirm big differences in late hiring between suburbs and cities even when controlling for collective bargaining status and other contextual variables. Late school district budget action was also associated with late hiring. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Although out-of-school factors are the major determinants of achievement gaps, recent research using value-added models has focused much attention on the role that teachers play as the most important school resource contributing to student achievement growth. 1 Teacher selection, hiring, training, evaluation, and labor union contracts are of increasing importance, potentially resulting in long-term gains in student outcomes. It will take a multifaceted effort to recruit and keep well-qualified teachers in urban schools, including improving school and neighborhood safety, establishing and maintaining orderly schools, and Address correspondence to Linda Loubert, Professor, Economics Department, Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lanes, Montebello Complex 215-D, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA. E-mail: linda.loubert@morgan.edu