Government Shutdown Would Cancel Washington Festival

Little bells of spring along the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, MD

Tomorrow, April 9, thousands of people are scheduled to converge upon the Nation’s Capital.

They plan to line up along Constitution Avenue from 10:00 am to noon to watch the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade®, an annual event in which – together with floats and balloons – marching bands from throughout the country will appear to proudly demonstrate their skills and love of country. 

Any school teacher, administrator of music arts, or band parent can tell you how much time, planning, practice, organizational skills and money goes into one of these trips.  Band parents are especially proud to see their kids perform; and the kids? . . . well it goes without saying.

Board Officers Add their Views on Collective Bargaining with BREA

On March 22^nd, Messrs. Krenetsky and Beatty of the BREA’s Negotiations Team responded to questions about the status of their talks with the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education.

Following that discussion, I spoke with Mr. Jeffrey Brookner, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and, at the end, with Mr. Evan Lerner, Board VP, concerning the same talks noted above.  (Both are members of the School District’s Negotiations Team.)

Question:  Will you provide specifics about the status of the current negotiations with the BREA?

Responses:  Mr. Brookner said that “The (Negotiations) Team had discussed whether or not to have a public statement at this time and decided not to.”  

BREA Leadership Offers its Views on Collective Bargaining

As discussed in the last post, several members of the BREA Negotiations Team and several representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board agreed to speak with me concerning collective bargaining now underway.  The last three-year contract with the BREA ends on June 30^th, 2011.

I spoke separately to each group.  Mr. Joseph Krenetsky is the Negotiations Chairman for the teachers, as well as for other school district employees represented by the BREA.  Mr. Steve Beatty is the union’s President.  An excerpt of that interview appears below:


 Question:  What can you tell me about the status of the labor negotiations with the Bridgewater-Raritan School District?

More on Disclosure and the Collective Bargaining Process

As mentioned in yesterday’s post concerning the collective bargaining process currently underway between the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association and the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, there are at least two key public policy issues at stake.

The first is the question of public disclosure concerning collective bargaining negotiation sessions, while the second is the matter of the timing and frequency of that disclosure.

On March 8, at a sparsely attended work session of the Board at the John F. Kennedy School in Raritan, Board President Jeffrey Brookner, upon questioning, explained that there is no legal requirement preventing the Board from disclosing results of joint labor negotiation sessions between it and the BREA. 

Collective Bargaining Needs Sunshine

Administration Bldg. of the Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ Schools

A major public policy issue is brewing on the local scene:  It concerns the collective bargaining process which is now in full swing between the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and its largest labor union, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association.

Negotiations take place behind closed doors, and the public gets virtually no input into the process.  Moreover, you are not being kept sufficiently apprised of the particulars, such as the offers and counter-offers being placed on the table by both sides. 

I cannot stress enough how important the outcome will be upon this community and upon the $129.5 million budget which will be placed before you, Bridgewater and Raritan voters, on April 27^th.