"Take One For The Team" Doesn't Seem to Work for Building Principals

Saturday, March 1st, the association hosted an event for members to come together to share their experiences and ideas about contract strategies for their local bargaining association. Twenty-five MASSP members listened as Tom White, Executive Director of the school business officials gave insight to school funding, the Michigan economy, and retirement issues to understand when at the bargaining table. Tom Derderian, the labor attorney used by MASSP advised on strategies and answered questions specific to member contracts and group obligations. After Mr. Derderian, three principals then shared their experiences as they lead bargaining for other administrators in their districts. A message that all seemed to share was, don’t fall victim to the proposal that the administrative group should become an example for other bargaining groups in the district. Every team at this sharing event told stories that after taking the change all that happened were the other groups just laughed at the stupid mistake the administrators made. There was no appreciation for the committment made. It was clear the phrase, “take one for the team” did not pay off. All those attending really liked the information shared and given. They also enjoyed the care given them by the association’s new meeting planner – Donna Oser. We produced a podcast of the presentation made by Tom Derderian. It should become available to the membership in the next few days.