Teachers union walks out of talks with city

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/23/teachers-union-walks-out-talks-with-city-over-plan-alter-school-calendar/HUQCxZGHesHLjKamqXrziK/story.html



Superintendent of Boston Public Schools Tommy Chang.

Teachers union walks out of talks with city
By Jeremy C. Fox Globe Staff March 23, 2016

The Boston Teachers Union walked out on contract negotiations with the School Department on Tuesday to protest the public release of proposed schedule changes to the school calendar that are part of ongoing collective bargaining, according to the union president.

In a March 11 memo to the School Committee, Superintendent Tommy Chang suggested eliminating the district’s February vacation and expanding its winter holiday break, as well as moving the start of school to the week before Labor Day in 2017 and to two weeks before the holiday for 2018.

Copies of the memo were distributed at the School Committee meeting last week. Some parents have since expressed reservations about changing a calendar that affects vacations, summer jobs, and child-care planning for tens of thousands of families.

Because any change to the district calendar is subject to negotiation with the union, public disclosure of the plan violates confidentiality rules agreed upon by both parties, Richard Stutman, the union’s president, said Wednesday.

[MichMan]

1. Can't allow the parents to have any input

So according to the union president, the ones most affected by changes to the school calender, the parents, are not allowed any input ?

Apparently, negotiations are only to be hashed out in back room deals between union bargainers and school administrators before being foisted on the parents and students.