July 20

Today began with a guest speaker, Jay Greening. He did a great job of outlining the negotiation process from the Board of Education point of view. Jay emphasized the importance of preparation to be done before you ever sit down at the table and begin negotiations. His spread sheet with comparable districts, and stating the importance of figuring salary increases at 1% are invaluable. Again, he, just like Dr. Closen, have emphasized the importance of "doing your homework" before negotions begin. We spent the majority of the day on contract negotiation simulations. Our group ran into a snafoo, whereby both groups assumed we were looking at the same financial data....and we weren't. That screw up, in the simulation, was enough to prove to me the importance of all parties in the negotiations being on the same page. This simulation is a very worthwhile experience.