Brave Humans

Here’s an equation:

Democratic-controlled Senate + Democratic-controlled House + Republican White House = not much happening.

Call me pessimistic, defeatist, cynical, fatalistic, negative…choose your favorite adjective. I despair of partisan politics, which seems to be standard operating procedure in Washington. Perhaps because the other party is so “wrong,” perhaps because of party pressure, or perhaps out of fear of losing re-election, members of both major parties generally stick to their platforms. I think this is an abysmal problem-solving system, and experience has shown me that it can be different.

First, a little information to clarify my position. Because of partisan politics, I am registered as Independent; I have been since I first signed up at 18. I’m also a former public school teacher, and I served on the district contract negotiating team a few times.

How is that relevant? With a little imagination, I think you can see that negotiating an employment contract is a lot like working in politics. You have controversial topics (health benefits, pay, work schedule) and parties (teachers, administrators, school board) with differing positions. I worked in a poor district with a lot of problems, but, in each case, we settled our contract within a week.

No magic, no threats, little money…how was it done? By using a cooperative style of negotiations sometimes known as integrative bargaining. Each party comes to the table with its concerns and relates them. Then, with the assistance of facilitators, the entire group creates a list of shared problems. Ok, so the teachers want more money, and the school board doesn’t want to raise taxes…so salary is a problem. Teachers want time to work with each other, but released time is an issue for the administrators…so scheduling is a problem…and so on. As a team, we generate solutions while considering all points of view, and we don’t stop until we reach a decision that everyone can live with.

This wasn’t easy, not by a long shot. Before beginning negotiations, there was extensive team-building and procedural training all members had to attend. Still, trust issues arose. It also was sometimes very difficult to let go of the connections to our “parties” and just think about the good of the school district. We also made some decisions that, in retrospect, we regretted. But I do believe the contracts were fair, there was little animosity generated, and the process did not drag out for months as it can in traditional negotiations.

I think our leaders in Washington should adopt a similar process. No matter what you think about an issue (e. g., the Iraq war, immigration, universal health care), it is a problem, and you have a stake in the outcome. If we could look at concerns in a broader context, I think there’d be more agreement, and perhaps a more satisfying solution could be reached. For instance, most people are either pro-life or pro-choice; that indicates that abortion is an issue. That does not indicate, however, that the only solutions are total ban or total freedom. Nor does it indicate that the best compromise is in the dead center of the two extremes. I’d like lawmakers to look at problems of Americans, not Republicans or Democrats.

Look, I know I’m asking a lot. There is a tremendous amount of past practice and history keeping the status quo…not to mention a few trust issues. But try to imagine the amount of animosity that can fester among teachers, administrators, and school board members. We overcame that tradition, and for a few shining years, developed something shared, functional, and respected.

I’ve since left that district. I’ve heard through the grapevine that they no longer use integrative bargaining; they went back to traditional oppositional negotiations. I was really disappointed to hear that; I wonder what the catalyst was for that decision. I suspect that it was human frailty: greed, mistrust, suspicion…in my opinion, not a stance from which to start negations. But that’s where my former school district is now….and that’s where we are in our federal government.

Be brave. Be human.
Susan