Our negotiations team prepares for negotiations all year in order to bring you the best tentative agreement they can. The job is ongoing and demands a lot of the team members. MEA is grateful for those members who volunteer to serve on the team. Although the team is made up of MEA members, we represent ALL members of the bargaining unit (everyone who works under the Negotiated Agreement). 

In years past we've seen plenty of misconceptions on the negotiations process and quite a few upset members at the end of the process. We don't think this information is going to alleviate all of your concerns, but we hope that it will help you to make a more informed decision on the tentative agreement when it finally goes for a vote.

Even if you are a veteran teacher, there is probably something here for you to learn as well. The IBB process is not new to our district, and the MEA negotiations team works diligently to create a thoughtful plan that we always hope will lead to the best contract possible in the current financial and political climate.

Collective Bargaining

• Click here to learn what it is, how it works, and why it matters.

• Click here for the Benefits of Collective Bargaining.

Important Dates

• March 31: Notice to Negotiate Deadline

• July 31: Statutory Date of Impasse

What is IBB and Why Use It?

MEA and the district decided to use Interest Based Bargaining instead of traditional negotiation over a decade ago in an attempt to improve communication between both teams and solve more problems. This has obviously not been a perfect process, but the current MEA leadership believes that this is still the most viable way to get the best contract for the members of the bargaining unit (everyone who works under the Negotiated Agreement).

IBB is based on a few core principals designed to improve communication and focus on problem solving instead of competition and conflict.

Those core issues are:

• Teams must have the authority to make decisions for their respective parties.

• Issues must be presented instead of proposals.

• All relevant information should be shared among both teams.

• There should be a continued focus on problem solving instead of competing.

• Less difficult/non-monetary issues should be resolved first.

• Communications to the public should be joint statements.

Beyond that, both parties are free to pick the members of their teams as needed. The district usually gets a mix of HR personnel, building administrators, district leadership, and two BOE members. Their team reports back to BOE as necessary.

According to our Constitution and Bylaws, our president appoints team members.  A Lead Negotiator serves as the main representative and main negotiator for the MEA team. All members of MEA are encouraged to serve on the team. Everyone's expertise is needed.

The people who serve on the team are selected because they are widely respected, professional, willing to have hard conversations with the BOE team, and will work to come up with solutions to the issues presented. We always try to have elementary, middle, and high school representatives on the team. A school nurse and a special education representative also serve on the team.

State law (the Kansas Professional Negotiations Act - PNA) requires all members of the IBB team are trained prior to coming to the table. MEA always prepares our team members by attending KNEA-sponsored bargaining trainings and meeting regularly to review issues and plan our bargaining strategy.

Negotiations Process

This chart is fairly complex, but it goes over what may or may not happen during the negotiations process.

The blue items represent the IBB process, the green items represent the Tentative Agreement Vote process, the yellow items represent the Impasse process, and the red items represent the Fact Finding Process.

State Mandates

According to Kansas Statutes, there are a set amount of topics that are required for negotiation. Even though the IBB process can open the door for more topics to be considered, the only ones that the district are required to negotiate are on the following chart.

There are some topics that the state says that can be negotiated, but each party is limited to only three choices from the following orange list.

Lastly, as long as both parties agree to them, other topics can be added for negotiations as long as they abide by K.S.A. 72-5413(I)(1). Section C is shown in yellow below. This language makes it possible for ANYTHING to be under negotiation as long as both parties agree that it falls under "properly related to professional service."

MEA Negotiation Priorities for 2023

We'll be using the data from a survey in conjunction with listening to our members to set our negotiation priorities for 2023.

How You Can Help

• Stay informed: Follow us on social media, read our email, read district notices, stay up-to-date on what is happening with the legislature.

• Reach out to BOE Members: The BOE wants and needs to hear from teachers throughout this process in order for them to make the best decisions for teachers. Click here for BOE member contact information.

• Attend a BOE Meeting: The BOE meetings are always the second Monday of the month at 7:00 PM. This year they are live on the district's YouTube channel. Email maizemea@gmail.com if you would like to speak at a BOE meeting. We will help you prepare and sign up.

• Attend a Negotiations Meeting: Each meeting is communicated in advance to the public, and anyone may attend the meeting (not all meetings are after school).

• Be Ready: While we hope for a quick negotiations process that benefits both parties, it is always possible that negotiations may break down. In the event that we are unable to come to an agreement, we'll need to be ready to mobilize online and in-person.

Updates

The bargaining process will begin on Thursday, April 6, 2023, at 4:00PM in the ESC training room.
All members of the IBB team will meet to train on the IBB process and to review the issues noticed by both the Association and the BOE.

The dates will be posted here as soon as they are selected by the IBB team.