reflection May 9th

I was a little tired yesterday but I learned about interest based bargaining. It was of value to me because I had heard of it being used to do some of the language changes during our last contract negotiations. I appreciate this approach for its simplistic common sense approach at solving often times complex and intense issues. Trust certainly was an operative word for the day. The underlying theme of this type of bargaining as it appeared to me was that each side must have established a level of trust and understanding prior to negotiations. I can certainly see and have first hand knowledge of the fact that this type of bargaining can be successful. I wonder at how successful it would be regarding the big three; wages, insurance, and retirement in our district. I would say that this would not work well in our district. We are not currently in negotiations and will not be anytime soon due to the fact that we are in the second year of a five year contract. With my interniship I hope to visit schools that are in this process and hopefully learn more concerning not only interest based bargaining but traditional collective bargaining.