Get a Grip People—It's a Negotiation!

Good lord! Listening to you people ramble on about the Geneva teachers / School Board dialogue is even more painful than sitting through a Republican lecture on the female reproductive system.

Now I know why people in positions of power often refer to their citizenry as “the rabble.” How does that old adage go? The one about opening your mouth and removing all doubt?

Please note I haven’t weighed in on negotiations as of late because I’ve managed to retain the good sense God gave a billy goat. Unlike the TaxFACTS rabble, if I don’t see a way to improve a situation, I generally keep my mouth shut.

And let me be perfectly clear, because nuance simply doesn’t work with you folks.

With the exception of the previous paragraphs and the conclusion, I’m playing reporter here. I’ve spent more time on this topic than any other and my goal is to be as objective as humanly possible.

I will describe the situation as it is. I won’t go into specifics or engage in finger pointing because that will only make an already tense situation worse. So now that we’ve dispensed with that, let’s move on.

This is a negotiation! Nothing more and nothing less. While negotiating tends to be an art form, these kinds of deliberations tend to follow a prescribed series of steps. And watching all y’all flipping out over each and every turn makes me want to explain.

When buying a car, do you immediately offer $19,999.50 on a $20,000 vehicle? Or do you simply pay list price? Your failure to grasp that basic concept means local car salesmen must start salivating whenever a Genevan ventures onto their lot.

Those GEA-proposed end-of-career 18 percent salary bumps were never meant to be taken seriously. C’mon people! I’ve described this phenomenon before. Kent Shodeen asked for 400 Mill Creek apartments in hopes of getting 200. But because those high strung folks don’t know how to NEGOTIATE, they ended up with 300.

Anyone with half a brain knows the GEA planned on dropping that demand all along. How can it be a give and take if you have nothing to give? Would I have used that strategy? It doesn’t matter, because they didn’t ask me.

A non-involved insider put this in perfect perspective, “Never underestimate the power of the chess game. Both sides are thinking three moves ahead, and it would be a grave error to underestimate the folks on the other side of the table.”

In this unique endeavor a “strike authorization” is merely a formality, a “final offer” is far from it, and a “notice to strike” doesn’t mean it will happen. These are legal terms that must be applied within a given time frame and are about as binding as a prune and jalapeno sandwich.

Ah! But there is a specific point and message to each move.

With that covered, let’s backtrack a bit. Contrary to what all of you are shrieking and whining about, this has nothing do with money and everything to do with animosity, distrust and respect—or the perceived lack of it. What the teachers are essentially saying is, right or wrong, if we can’t get respect, then we’ll take the cash.

Multiple sources have furiously lamented just how close they were to an agreement in June—inches by one’s depiction—only to find themselves back at the drawing board.

The reason for that is twofold. First, the superintendent made some ill-advised comments that, right or wrong, provided a great deal of the impetus for going back to square one.

Might the teachers have been a tad bit sensitive? Possibly. But then the TaxFACTS group had to go and tip in the superintendent’s jump shot by, once again, ceaselessly browbeating the teachers at a time when feelings and nerves were already frayed.

You can argue the merit of that group all you want, but I’ve heard it for myself. No one wants to be disrespected, least of all Bob McQuillan, who immediately throws a temper tantrum whenever he has to take one-third of what he regularly dishes out.

Some things simply don’t need to be said and sometimes tongues are best held to give the process a chance.

All that said, a non-administration/non-board insider told me they still don’t think there will be a strike.

“Teachers do not want to strike,” they said, “They care about the kids. Geneva has never been a rock-the-boat kind of community. These negotiations have always been approached with a win-win mentality.”

“If there is a strike,” they continued, “That means there has been a massive breakdown of trust, and the animosity has overcome that inertia.”

Again, at this point, I’m neither supporting nor am I passing judgment on the teachers, the union, or the District 304 administration. I’m only telling it like it is. My sole statement will be that, despite being stuck in the middle with me, I believe the School Board is acting reasonably and responsibly.

Whether it’s advisable for the GEA to take this route at this time is another story entirely. Unless they settle before Wednesday, we’ll cover that then.

Let me send you off with a final thought. Contrary to what you believe, I really don’t want any post column commentary because I don’t think it will help. Please carefully consider what you say before you say it.

God! It truly is scary when I’m the only adult in the room.