Collective Bargaining and Sustainable Programs

As I began to think about how I would respond to the prompt, I was reminded of my interview with the Director of Technology at my school district.  One of the things we discussed was his goals for the technology program and it's sustainability.  The first thing he said that you need to do is create the infrastructure.  Then you need to test it.  The testing takes about a year to do, because you need to push the network to its maximum capacity before you roll out devices to the students.  Once you are confident that the network can handle the load, you start to work with teachers on changing their pedagogical approach to daily activities (E. Kwok, personal communication, June 15, 2015).  Here is where you have to pay attention to the collective bargaining agreement.  One aspect of the collective bargaining agreement is Mandatory Consulting on matters pertaining to Educational Objectives and selection of textbooks (Kemer & Sansom, 2013).  I wonder if this pertains to the transition from print textbooks to digital ones?

Another aspect of collective bargaining that can have an effect on the success and sustainability of a program is the mandatory negotiation of hours (Kemer & Sansom, 2013).  In order to transition to a one to one program teachers need to be trained on a new pedagogy, as well as some basic troubleshooting of the machines.  This will take time and dedication from the teachers.  If they are to be required to put in extra time, it needs to be included in the collective bargaining agreement.  There are a myriad of professional development options, my school district has a learn on your own policy.  Teachers are given a list of options to choose from at the beginning of the year and they pick what they want.  This is reflected within the collective bargaining agreement.

In my second interview we discussed the necessity of a graduated professional development geared towards a unified front (not the best word, but it works) for utilizing technology within the classrooms (S. Ahl, personal communication, June 19, 2015).    What we, as technology leaders, need to be sure of, is that all teachers have access to quality professional development.  From the High Fliers, to those who would rather get stuck in the mud than embrace technology, our students need teachers to have at least a basic understanding of how to create learning environments that are driven by curriculum and powered by technology (M Webb, personal communication, June 16, 2014).


E. Kwok, personal communication, June 15, 2015.

Kemer, F. & Sansom, P. (2013). California School Law: Third Edition. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

M. Webb, personal communication, June 16, 2014.

S. Ahl, personal communication, June 19, 2015.