May 31, 2007 - ANALYSIS

* This negotiation session was fairly informative about the whole MFT/administration dynamic.  I think that this tension between the protections of unionism and the freedoms of professionalism are really at the core of how MFT operates. The whole discussion about prep time reflects this.  Teachers feel they have too much to do and this intrudes on their prep time, which is meant to be a time for self-directed professional activities. The teachers also see the general value in all of the things they are asked to do, so they don't have specific suggestions about which district initiatives should be eliminated.  They are really asking the district to prioritize professional responsibilities for them, the idea of them taking initiative to do this prioritization seems to not enter the discussion.

* I think that the MFT dynamic in the negotiation conversation reveals something about how teachers view the current crisis in MPS.  They don't seem to conceive that they themselves could take the initiative to solve systemic problems, they want the administration to write rules to solve these.

* The teacher complaints about how well MPS policies are enforced really show how really bad communication is between teachers and administrators, including principals.  This negotiation session left me thinking that this poor relationship between teachers and administrators is the real hole in the MPS ship.