The effective management of Indonesia's teaching force is of crucial importance to the development of the country's educational system. The study aimed to investigate the policies and practices governing teacher employment and deployment in primary and junior secondary schools. The major issues investigated included the distribution of teachers, the staffing of remote schools, teachers' workloads, the overall supply of teachers, teacher remuneration and teacher quality. A highly participatory case-study approach was used and included a field survey of 385 schools (276 primaries, 70 junior secondary and 39 senior secondary) in 12 sampled districts/municipalities. In addition, a two-day workshop, involving representatives from all participating districts, was held to analyze the survey results and to determine policy implications.