THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER UNIONS ON THE PROBABILITY OF DROPPING OUT OF HIGH-SCHOOL

The results reported in this article generally show important differen ces exist, affecting the probability of dropping out of high school fo r male and female students. In particular, the union status of the hig h school is more likely to affect the dropout probability of male stud ents. We speculate this effect is due to the standardization of instru ction induced by teacher unions. At a minimum, these results suggest t eacher unions do not increase the probability of dropout and may reduc e it, thus possible improving one dimension of the performance of Amer ica's public education system. These results contrast with the descrip tions of the impact of teacher unions offered by many of those who are calling for radical reform of that system.