From one of my BU journalism students:
Hi everyone! My name is Sam Drysdale, I am a journalism student at Boston University working in partnership with The Boston Globe to cover Newton. I am writing a story on the Newton Teachers Association’s collective bargaining negotiations with the School Committee. I would love to get some parents’ perspectives on the issue, so if you would be interested in speaking with me about this, please send me an email. You can reach me at [email protected]. Thanks!
Sam,
You need to hear from parents but this will not be enough.
You must also seek feed back from people who have had
students in the schools over the past several decades.
I’m looking forward to this story, which should provide a great learning experience for Sam. It’s very hard to write a balanced story about pending collective bargaining negotiations. There are usually dozens of interrelated issues. Those on the management side typically are very reluctant to discuss details and constraints; while those on the union side tend to be less inhibited and are adept at using the coverage to advocate for their points. And since the negotiations themselves are confidential, people outside the room have little basis for making informed comments. Finally, in this case, 5 out of the 9 School Committee members (which includes the Mayor) must vote for the agreement–so it’s entirely possible that there can be a division of opinions even among the management group. I’m hoping Sam can sort through all those dynamics and offer us an interesting read!