Larger systems are more bureaucratic and rule-bound. Differences that cannot be resolved informally end up on the bargaining table. Some towns that were former manufacturing centers have a history of troubled labor-management relations and a strong union tradition that may have influenced the teachers' contract. Devolution of more decision-making power to the school level would probably promote this transformation, but progress is slow. The second conclusion that emerges from this study concerns administrators.
Contracts do constrain administrators.
Yet, as we have seen, when more flexible language is negotiated, administrators do not take advantage of it to serve the educational mission of their schools. Administrators have been able to blame the contract for their own inaction because so often the contract does restrict fundamental managerial prerogatives. But to be held accountable, administrators must be empowered to make critical personnel decisions. Unfortunately, as long as teachers believe contractual constraints cannot be lifted without risking their essential rights as employees, the effort to restore these prerogatives will be slow, costly, and often unsuccessful. Go here for a perspective on the effect of competition and choice on the structure of public education.