IBB and Me

Jerry Meehan-FMCS
Jerry’s presentation was very interesting. It’s amazing that there are these government organizations that most people know nothing about. Jerry was very informative and it was interesting to learn about "…good faith". I learned that you can’t just say no when it comes to a proposal. You need to give the other side a reason you are rejecting their proposal.

I also learned the board can send out insurance letters that offer COBRA for employees that go on strike. This needs to be a board decision about whether to stop paying insurance premiums. Boards are now inclined to not pay for all the "dock" days that teachers take on a strike. Many times there is a mix of some make up days and some "dock" days. I have to think that boards would definitely want to send the COBRA letter right away in the event of a strike. It would only be prudent to do this right away in case the strike became lengthy.

I also found Jerry's IBB presentation interesting. As a superintendent, I would want negotiations to end on a happy note. If the process became adversarial everyone leaves with a bad taste in their mouth and everyone looses. Ultimately, disgruntled employees make bad employees. Unfortunately, it seems that people often have unrealistic expectations in the negotiation process.