It’s been interesting to hear and read what people are saying about the new contract model adopted by the Grosse Pointe Public School System. In such anxious and politically combative times, many people thinks in terms of conflict – eager to identify the winners and the losers. When some people read about union contracts they immediately try to make that judgement: which party got the better of the other?
I love everything about the new contract – as a taxpayer, board member, citizen and consumer of school services. Yet how do we explain why the teachers so overwhelmingly approved the same contract I like so much?
Simple. Because it is fair. It basically says we’re not sure what the Michigan economy holds for us and Proposal A does not allow for us to control the most significant variables that affect us locally. So if things go bad, we’ll all agree to shared sacrifice. If this go well, we’ll agree to shared reward. The contract says that we’re in this together.
This column in this week’s Grosse Pointe Today web site summarized this really well. The author clearly “gets it”. This contract IS significant and will pay dividends along a variety of dimensions for years to come.