Posted on 04/07/2005 1:45:12 PM PDT by FreedomPoster
An online friend, not on Free Republic, is on his local school board. He's a good, conservative guy, in my dealings with him; the kind of person FReepers want to see on school boards.
Contract negotiations with the teachers union are getting very adversarial. He is feeling a little outgunned, as the union tend to bring in seasoned hardball labor contract negotiators, whereas the school board members are elected regular citizens without much experience in this sort of thing.
I know where he is at, but would prefer to not reveal his location and school district, since I haven't asked his permission to do this.
If any FReepers have any recommendations or links to resources, that would be helpful with this, I would appreciate seeing them.
Tell him to forget it. Cancel school. And take the tax money and refund it to parents in the form of vouchers which they can pay for private schools.
I would contact the National Right to Work Foundation. They are a nonprofit and have experience with labor law and contracts - I'm sure one of their attorneys would be happy to give your friend some pointers on what to do.
If, on the other hand, the district has truly left the negotiating to the amateurs, they'll get what they paid for. But I seriously doubt that is the case.
Vouchers are a bad idea...and I'm a homeschooling conservative saying this.
The reason is that federal money, even in the form of vouchers, never comes without regulation. You want to see mandated curriculum for homeschoolers? Move to a voucher program and it's inevitable.
Vouchers would have great benefits, and unintended consequences. Consequently, I oppose them.
Best of luck to your friend. I am a former teacher in a state where either you are union member or you pay them anyway because they negotiate for all school employees. these unions are extremely strong and have a ton of support from both the state and national organization when it comes to negotiating contracts.
I think the best advice has already been given: tell your friend to hire a prefessional labor negotiator. It will save the taxpayers many times the cost of hiring the person if he/she does their job well. Voters could be told that in the local newspaper too! In fact do publish it before the union puts their spin on it.
While that, or Oberon's idea, are what I would prefer, we're working within the constraints of the existing system here.
I meant cryptical's idea, in the above post.
That would be a great solution! Vouchers are used where I am. Some of the parochial school refuse to take them because there is a clause in the voucher contract that says if a child or his parents disagree with the religion being taught in the school, the child is to be provided with alternative learning. A good parochial school weaves religious teaching throughout all the subjects, so accepting vouchers can be a huge pain for them!
My point is that unless you are willing to play hardball and have been empowered to do so, the union has all the cards. If your goal is to get an agreement without a strike then you are usually going to lose. If your goal is to give no more than a pre-determined amount then you better be preparted to stick to your guns and suffer a strike if necessary.
as other posters have said, there are professional companies that can help you with this. They are usually expensive but not expensive relative to what you may have to give up should you not use professionals. Incidently, I cannot believe anybody would start worrying about or looking for expertise AFTER the negotiations have begun.
If anybody wants to e-mail me for help or advise on contract negotiations they should feel free to do so.
Freespectfully,
PresidentFelon
cmcfarling@mcfarling.com
Evening bump.
One last bump for this.
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