August 28 Blog

Throughout my career, I have sat on both sides of the table during negotiations. As a teacher I actively negotiated. As an administrator, I sat in the back of the room and observed the negotiations and joined the administrative negotiating team when speaking to the attorney. I learned a lot through both of these exeriences. One of our discussions in class regarding the amount of preparation that needs to be done by the superintendent prior to negotiations confirmed what I witnessed. Our superintendent had many financial spreadsheets prepared with different scenarios. I would be interested in obtaining electronic copies of templates of various spreadsheets that superintendents have used when preparing for negotiations. What I observed during our last negotiation was very different than the simulation discussion we had in class today. I did not observe the beginning where ground rules were established. I am interested to learn what discussion took place with regards to ground rules. During the negotiating session that I witnessed both the district attorney and the IEP representative were present and most of the negotiating at the table took place between the two of them.