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The West Park Middle School Decision

Background Information
West Park is located in the large urban city of Adamston on the western fringes of downtown. The neighborhood has been around for many years and is home to a close knit African American community. However, following the movement of industrial jobs out of the city and the exodus of many middle class residents to the surrounding suburbs, West Park has become a low-income community and was hit hard by the recent economic downturn. Residents are particularly aware that they are among the poorer sections of Adamston, but they feel that their neighborhood is rich in community and are committed to trying to improve the situation for their younger generation. The West Park neighborhood is home to two schools, West Park Elementary School and West Park Middle School. Students from West Park Middle School attend high school at West Adamston High School, which is located on the same side of town as the neighborhood but is far enough away to not contribute to community life in West Park in any noticeable way. West Park Middle School, lead by an experienced African American principal named Peter Duran, serves grades 6-8 in an expansive 3 story brick building built in the 1940s. Built in the heyday of West Park, it is designed to serve 1,800 students. It is located in the heart of the West Park neighborhood, and because of its size and its stature as an attractive historical building, it attracts a great deal of attention within the community. It also boasts the typical amenities of a large urban middle school, including a high- capacity auditorium, basketball and tennis courts, and athletic fields, including a modest football stadium. The neighborhood has enjoyed use of these facilities for both school and community events for many years and is heavily involved in the schools daily life by way of the active PTA, led by parent Mrs. Sandra Washington, the mother of two current students in grades 6 and 7. Like 98% of the student body, Mrs. Washington and her children are African American. As part of the Adamston School District, West Park Middle School is only one of over 100 public schools in the city. Adamston has dealt with issues common to large urban districts over the years, including residential segregation and inequalities among schools and areas of the city, and continues to struggle with some of these issues today. The district has been criticized for both low performance under the No Child Left Behind Act (several schools have consistently failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress) and for poor financial management because of constant budgetary problems heavily covered by the Adamston Press-Register. The school district has been characterized as unwise when it comes to spending, because while they spend a large amount of money per pupil as compared to other districts, they have lower achievement and less programs in the schools. Additionally, in the past 5 years, they have gone through 4 superintendents. In response to these embarrassing issues, the popular new mayorand first Latino mayorof Adamston, Adrian Booker, sought and won mayoral control of the school district. Under this new arrangement, he appointed a young white superintendent fresh out of the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University, Almi Garcia, an experienced principal with a proven track record for turning around failing schools.

The West Park Middle School Decision

Instead of answering to the school board, Superintendent Garcia reports to the mayor. She was given a difficult chargeimprove academic performance and balance the districts struggling budget. After examining the situation of the schools, Superintendent Garcias attention turned to West Park Middle School. Although originally designed for 1,800 students, the school currently continually serves less than half that many studentsonly 800 this yearand has not come close to meeting AYP in the past three years. In fact, only 44% of students are reading on grade level, and only 15% of 8th graders are enrolled in Algebra I, a key measure of college readiness. Keeping the massive old school open is extremely costly, and Superintendent Garcia feels that it would be almost impossible to implement the improvements needed to pull up academic performance because of financial constraints: with so few students and budgets allocated on a per-pupil basis, West Park Middle School doesnt have the money. In a move she says is motivated by wanting to better serve students, Superintendent Garcia has proposed closing West Park Middle School and relocating the students to either Henderson Middle School, an average performing school in the next neighborhood less than a mile away, or to Clark Middle School, a highly performing school recognized for academic excellence located several miles away in a more affluent area of town. She has noted that leaving West Park Middle School open would be a financial drain and, with such costly operations and a small enrollment, the school wouldnt be able to provide opportunities to its students that they could receive if they went to another school. The school year ends in early June. Because it is already May, time is of the essence so students and their families, as well as the West Park Middle School community, will be able to prepare for any changes that may occur.

Setting the Stage: The Town Hall Meeting And Beyond

We all want to do what is best for the kids, says West Park Superintendent Almi Garcia. While it may be painful initially, I think after this conversation we will be able to see how closing West Park Middle School is the best option for our students in the long run. Sitting around a long wooden table in the Principals office of West Park Middle School (WPMS) are Superintendent Garcia; Sandra Washington, representing the parents of students who attend WPMS; Peter Duran, representing himself as Principal and the teachers of WPMS; and Mayor Adrian Booker. The negotiation at hand is a culmination of a long battle between all four parties represented concerning the fate of the school. In the face of a looming budget crunch due to a steadily worsening economy and declining enrollment, Superintendent Garcia announced to the community that the district wishes to close down the school. This was not good news for members of the West Park community especially parents, who, facing an economic crunch of their own, would have to contend with the consequences of that decision in terms of potentially more expensive transportation. Besides the fiscal rationale, parents have a sentimental value attached to WPMS. Due, in part, because many of them graduated from that very school when they were children.

The West Park Middle School Decision

If WPMS is closed, all the parties are aware that there would be a number of items to consider. What would happen to the building after it was no longer WPMS? Could it be reused to host a new charter school? Perhaps turned into a community center? In fact, what happens to the building may be an issue that is not appropriate to address at this specific negotiation and should be tabled for the citys consideration at a later point. Also, there still needs to be a decision made in terms of where students will go after the school is closed. They could all be sent to a nearby school with middle-of-the road academic performance and offerings, a farther away school with excellent academic performance and offerings, or that decision could be left up to individual parents to make. If the school is no longer in their immediate community, how will students get to and from school every day? A decision needs to be made about transportation. Lastly, there needs to be a shared decision made as far what happens to the teachers and Principal Duran. They could be merged with the school to which students are moved, put into a district pool for reassignment to any district school, or bought out and end their employment with the district. Although Superintendent Garcia is entering the negotiation with support from Mayor Booker, she is aware that the Mayor also has an obligation to the teachers and community members of West Park especially if he hopes to get re-elected for another term. If the parties are not able to come to an agreement, parents have threatened to hold mass protests against the city, the superintendent, and mayor. The mayor does not want this. If there is no deal, the school will remain open, but there will be no additional fundingso the financial condition of the school will remain insufficient to supply all the necessary academic programs. Programs will have to be cut, the school will not be able to hire specialized teachers, and the quality of education will continue to drop. Surely, at that rate, the issue of the school closing down will have to be re-visited and this entire process will have to be conducted again in the future.

The West Park Middle School Decision

Confidential Information for Peter Duran, Principal
Peter Duran is the principal of the West Park Middle School and has been working there for two years. Like Superintendent Garcia, his top priorities are to balance the school budget and improve student performance. To obtain these goals, Duran has gained social capital in the community by building school culture among teachers and welcoming parents into the classroom. However, high leadership turnover in the district, decreasing student attendance, and maintenance costs for the building have made it nearly impossible for Duran to balance the budget and the quality of education offered by the school, which has affected student performance. For these reasons, Duran is conflicted between wanting to keep the school open to keep the community happy and the teachers employed on the one hand, and seeing the Superintendents rationale for closing down the school because of financial and quality matters on the other. Going into this negotiation, he feels that he can only agree to close the school down if some of the basic requirements of the parents and the teachers are met.

Where students will go to school

This is a delicate political issue for Duran but he believes the best option is to remain neutral. If he advocates for students to merge with the Henderson School, he may lose popularity among his teachers because they resist combining school cultures and some may lose jobs. On the other hand, if he encourages students to attend a school with only average academics it may be misunderstood by Superintendent Garcia that he is not prioritizing student achievement as his number one concern. This may lower his chances to remain a principal. Similarly, he feels that choosing a school that is right for the needs of each student is not entirely his decision to make, and may jeopardize his relationship with parents who think they should have the choice of what school to send their children to. Therefore, Duran sees advantages to remaining neutral concerning this issue and letting transportation help decide where students will attend school.

Transportation
Transportation is another neutral issue to Peter Duran. He and his teachers care deeply about the safety of students as they travel to and from school. However, in this setting, Duran feels that he lacks the power and authority to make a decision on this matter and will support whoever makes the stronger case (in his opinion) during the negotiation, and thinks that it should be tied to the decision of where the students will go to school.

Building Use
Duran's concern for raising student achievement is connected to improving after-school offerings. He believes in the power of after-school programs to keep students out of trouble and focused on academics and developing new talents. For these reasons, Duran sees the optimal use for the building not as a school, but a Community Center where students can maximize their potential by working with academic tutors and taking arts and sports classes. His second choice would be for the building to stay in the districts possession and become a charter school. This is a better option than giving the building to the city because it creates an opportunity to form a school that specializes in core teaching areas and

The West Park Middle School Decision

keeps commercial properties out of the neighborhood. Overall, he believes that if the school has to get closed down, the students should still benefit.

Principal and Teachers

Duran knows he is representing himself and the interests of the teachers on this issue. He takes this responsibility seriously and reviewed West Park teacher preferences concerning their job options in a faculty discussion following the announcement by the superintendent that she would like to close the school. Because the majority of teachers are young, they would like to keep teaching in the district and consider reassignment through the district pool as giving them the best chance for job security. However, for the sake of the students, they would consider merging with the Henderson even though this would put considerable strain on forming effective teacher work teams (that is if the students get sent to this school; if parents decide on the other school or choose which school their children go to and thus the student body gets split up, this ceases to be an option). Teachers expressed resentment to the idea of early retirement and do not feel this is necessary simply because a building must be shut down. Plus, the payoff is less money over time compared to what the teachers would make if they keep working for the next ten years. In the upcoming meeting, Duran will ensure his teachers have jobs no matter if the school closes or stays open. For himself, he would like to keep working as a principal or move to a higher leadership position in the district. This is the most important issue for Duran and his teachers. If job security is the only thing he gains, he will consider himself successful in this meeting.

Pay-Off Charts

The West Park Middle School Decision

Transportation
Nothing Metro Cards School Bus Service -- -- Charter School -- Community Center 20 10

Building use
Goes back to the city 0

What school the students will go to

A nearby school with middle-of-the road academic performance and offerings (merge) A farther away school with excellent academic performance and offerings Parents receive choice of schools, with no guarantee that all will get in #1 choice

What happens to teachers and the principal

-- Merge together with the school students are moved to Put into a district pool for reassignment to any district school Bought-out and end employment with the district 15

30

--

--

The West Park Middle School Decision

Confidential Information for Mrs. Sandra White, PTA President
As Sandra White, you are a long-standing active member of the West Park community who wants to see positive change for future generations of West Park residents. The West Park Middle School, housed in a beautiful historical building, is a prominent center of the West Park community. West Park residents are proud of this building and the heritage it boasts. They meet here regularly for Parent-Teacher Association meetings, parent initiatives for school children, and community events that bring different generations of the community together. Recently however, West Park residents have been informed that the new superintendent, Almi Garcia wants to close down West Park Middle School. Needless to say, the community, especially the parents of school going children, is upset by this prospect. When they asked why their school had been chosen to be closed down instead of another school in the area, they were given reasons like low enrolment and diminishing funds by Superintendent Garcia. Not satisfied with this explanation, they wish to keep their neighborhood school open and have chosen you as their representative to negotiate with the Mayor and the Superintendent. In order to prevent the school from closing down, you need to convince Mayor Booker not to let the superintendent close down the school. As West Park community members constitute part of the Mayors vote base, you know that you have some sway over him. Yet you dont want to push him to keep this school open if it will ultimately harm your children. As President of the PTA, you are aware that the school is having problems and your first priority is to ensure that the children of the community get access to the best possible education. This is why you convinced West Park parents and community members to come to the recent Town Hall meeting and hear out the Superintendent on her reasons for wanting to close down the school. West Park residents have not been able to establish a cordial or trusting relationship with Superintendent Garcia. They feel that she does not understand their concerns, or the importance of this school to their community. As friendly, down to earth people, they are not fond of Superintendent Garcias impersonal style and habit of bombarding them with numbers and financial statistics on why it makes sense to close down their school over others. To make matters worse, there was some unpleasantness at the Town Hall meeting, where parents thought that the superintendent was being high-handed and even arrogant about the issue. They were offended by the fact that she did not seem to care about the issues of this individual community. You in particular got into an argument with Superintendent Garcia at that meeting. Even though you made the effort to listen to the Superintendent about closing down the school that you would ideally want to keep open, and you managed to convince other parents and community members to do the same, you felt that she did not value your concerns regarding the consequences of and issues involved in the school closing down. That is how the argument began at the Town Hall meeting. If the school was to be closed down, four major issues had to be addressed: 1) where your children will go, 2) how they will get there; 3) what will happen to the school building; and 4) where the teachers and principal will go. Only if the Superintendent is able to satisfy your concerns and convince you that this is

The West Park Middle School Decision

the best option for your community will you accept the closure of your school. If you are unsatisfied however, you are willing to start protesting against the Superintendent and the Mayor to keep the school open.

Where the children will go

You are very concerned about where your children will go if West Park Middle School were to close down. You feel that if the community school is being taken away from them, parents should be given the choice to send their children to whatever school they feel is most appropriate; whether that decision is based on the physical proximity of the school or its standard of education.

Transportation
Your biggest concern about closing the school down is how your children will get to school. The Superintendent suggested that, if parents really wanted, students could be given Metro-cards with which they could use the public subway system to get to school. You are not happy with this arrangement. You feel that it is not very safe for 6th to 8th graders, ranging between the ages of 11 and 14, to walk alone to the subway stop from their houses and then to take the public transit system to school and back every day. This concerns you as a parent because it makes your children vulnerable in a large urban city center. If the school in your neighborhood has to be shut down, you want the Mayor and Superintendent to compensate by providing a bus service for every child to and from school regardless of where that school was located everyday. That way the children who wanted could even access the better quality school which is further away. Regardless of which school parents chose for their children though, you believe it is the districts responsibility to provide the children with transportation. It is the least they can do if they close your neighborhood school down.

Building use
As previously stated, the West Park community values this school building greatly. If they cannot continue to use it as the West Park Middle School, they want the district to convert it into a Community Center, which the community can gather in and the children can use after school hours. You are imagining the possibilities of a library and sports clubs at this center, that your children can be involved in after school to prevent them from getting distracted into harmful forms of entertainment readily accessible in urban centers. You dont mind the building becoming a charter school either, because that might provide you with more choice and could potentially be a place your children attend school at. You are not in favor of the building going back to the district, as you are sure that bureaucratic inefficiency will keep it empty for a while. Furthermore, you consider the building a community structure, and wish to have a say in how it is used by the community. Principal and Teachers You have had close interaction with the teachers at West Park Middle School and feel for their plight also. You do not want them losing their jobs, but as long as they are employed by the district, you are indifferent between where they will be posted next.

The West Park Middle School Decision

Pay-Off Charts
Transportation
Nothing Metro Cards School Bus Service 0 15 Charter School 30 Community Center 10 5

Building use
Goes back to the city 0

What school the students will go to

A nearby school with middle-of-the road academic performance and offerings (merge) A farther away school with excellent academic performance and offerings Parents receive choice of schools, with no guarantee that all will get in #1 choice

What happens to teachers and the principal

10 Merge together with the school students are moved to Put into a district pool for reassignment to any district school Bought-out and end employment with the district

10

10

10

20

The West Park Middle School Decision

Confidential Information for Almi Garcia, Superintendent
As Almi Garcia, you are a newcomer to the town and to the job. It didn't take long, however, to realize that drastic steps had to be taken to secure the best possible education for the kids you are responsible for. After college, you had a stellar career with McKinsey Consulting, and gained your reputation by being good at "doing lean" cutting costs. After six years at the firm, you happened to be staff on a project that McKinsey did pro bono for the public schools in Manhattan. This project changed the course of your life. You grew up as the child of two teachers, and have always thought that education was one of the most important fields in society. You had been a long-standing fan of people like Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, who brought sound economic reasoning to public services. After you decided to dedicate yourself to work for improvement of the school system, you went back to school and got a degree from the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University. You have always done well in school; in middle school you got picked on by other students and called a nerd. But you feel that there is nothing wrong with being smart and to the point. The kind of emotions displayed by some of the people you come across in your new job as principal strike you as erratic and irrational, but you also nurse a suspicion that they use their emotional style to get their way, disregarding economic reality. The case of West Park Middle School has been especially interesting and informative. The numbers say that the school should be closed down. That is the only way to meet budget requirements while simultaneously providing West Park students with high quality education. You do not understand why the community that you are trying to help by making this decision does not seem to agree with you. Parents seem upset and teachers seem uncomfortable by your decision; they dont seem to trust you in making the best decision for their children. Granted, they have a sentimental attachment to this school, but surely that cannot override rational analysis of what is best for the students and the district, can it? To make matters worse an argument broke out between yourself and the President of the PTA, Mrs. Sandra White, at the last Town Hall meeting that was held to discuss this issue. She accused you of being insensitive to the needs of the West Park community. You have now been informed that if no deal is reached in the upcoming closed-door negotiation between yourself, the mayor, the principal of WPMS and the PTA President, disgruntled parents will launch a campaign and hold mass demonstrations against you and the Mayor. That will make it impossible to close this school down in the near future, exacerbating budgetary concerns, school performance, and your ability to operate in this district in the future. Your job in this negotiation is to figure out how to convince everyone that closing down the school makes rational sense and is in everyones best interests. How can you make emotional parents and community members listen to you (the voice of reason?!)?

The West Park Middle School Decision

Where the students will go to school
You feel strongly that the children should go to another school within the system, either a nearby school or a school in the vicinity with a good track record. Giving parents a free choice will be difficult to organize logistically, involve high transaction costs, increase the price of transportation and set a dangerous precedent for other parents at other schools.

Transportation
The children do not on average live further away from the optional schools than other children in Adamston. Therefore, giving them transportation in the form of a bus service that the district would be responsible for would be costly and again set a dangerous precedent. If all kids in the school system were to get transport, there would be very little money left for other (in your opinion more important) education expenditure. You do however realize that giving out Metro cards could possibly increase the feasibility of your plan to close down the school by making parents more agreeable.

Building use:
You oppose charter schools because you think that they do not constitute a comprehensive solution to the problems that this districts education system faces. On one hand, you think that an asset like this beautiful building should go back to the city after all the money that has gone into building and maintaining it over the years, it would be fair. Plus, you do not think that giving away control over assets is the way to improve the schools and you think your boss, the mayor, would like this to happen. But part of the reason you are drawn to work in the school system is that you see how important the schools are to the local community, and you could see the building being used as a community center. The community center could make use of the great facilities the school has, and make them available to the community. Plus, programs could be put in that would support the students who would get displaced, such as after school. Therefore, you are equally interested in either of these options.

Where Teachers Go:

With your experience in making schools operate on the most lean budget possible, you believe that the most effective thing to do is to offer the teaches buy-outs giving them an honest chance to start over, like you suspect that many of the teachers secretly want to do. However, you do see the human resources and knowledge that the teachers represent, and could easily see them going into a pool for the district. Moving all of them to one other school would not meet the reductions in costs that you are aiming for, but since you suspect that some of the teachers will leave the profession if the school closes, you are not altogether opposed to this idea. Plus, it could ease the transition for the students if they all go to a new school together and some of their teachers come along. Yet some of the teachers are not likely to want to merge with another established schoolmeshing cultures if tough, after alland, if the parents refuse to go to one of the two schools youve suggested, you cant put the teachers into any other school all together. There simply isnt space for that many new teachers anywhere else. Therefore, as a last resort you would consider putting them into a district poolbut only if the rest of the decisions make this concession seem reasonable.

The West Park Middle School Decision

Pay-Off Charts
Transportation
Nothing Metro Cards School Bus Service 20 10 Charter School 0 Community Center 20 0

Building use
Goes back to the city 20

What school the students will go to

A nearby school with middle-of-the road academic performance and offerings (merge) A farther away school with excellent academic performance and offerings Parents receive choice of schools, with no guarantee that all will get in #1 choice

What happens to teachers and the principal

20 Merge together with the school students are moved to Put into a district pool for reassignment to any district school Bought-out and end employment with the district

15

20

10

30

20

The West Park Middle School Decision

Confidential Information for Adrian Booker, Mayor
As Mayor of West Park, you are charged with bringing about the kind of change your constituents want. But remember, the first job of the mayor is to get elected. The second job is to get re-elected it doesnt matter how good your ideas are if you arent in office to do something about them. That being said, you realize that schools are a key aspect of what the public perceives to be a marker of public progression. You hired Superintendent Almi Garcia with hopes to turn around the ailing district. Superintendent Garcias decision to close West Park Middle School was met with a sharp emotional backlash by the public, nut you have been convinced that it makes the most sense economically and practically because of the tight budget and drop in enrollment. Although you fully support Superintendent Garcia, you realize that the plan she has chosen could be disastrous if not handled properly. Parents must leave this negotiation happy because they represent a large part of your constituency. If they feel they have been strong-armed, they will surely take it out on you in the next election. Similarly, Principal Duran represents the teachers union, a strong voting block in the city of West Parkand the union has graciously agreed to accept the decision of the negotiating group because he will be there. If there is no deal, parents have threatened to hold mass protests against you and the superintendent. You know that this is disastrous for your political career. This pressure coupled with the pressure of a surely noisy media campaign will mean that the school will remain open at least for now but will continue to decline academically and the entire process of closing it down will have to be repeated at a later date. Above all else, you recognize that closing down the school while still meeting the basic demands of parents is in everyones best interest. Students can benefit greatly from the move as the district will be able to serve their needs better through improved budgetary planning. Your challenge now is to mediate the situation that threatens to spiral out of control and gently make parents, teachers and community members realize that this is in their best interests. There are four main issues in this negotiation.

Where the students will go to school

You are indifferent to what school the students go to. You may choose to support a certain position in order to gain support from another party in the negotiation, withhold information, or admit that you have no interest in this issue.

Transportation
Your main choice would be for students to use Metro-cards. This option would satisfy the purposes of this negotiation in an economical manner, as well as gain support from the transit union that you can use in your next election. School buses would be your next preferred option, since that would stimulate part of the economy. You would prefer to do something about transportation since selecting a nothing option does not contain much benefit for you, and would likely upset the parents whose votes you want.

The West Park Middle School Decision

Building Use
The West Park Middle School building is quite a valuable resource in the neighborhood. You would love to have more time to collaborate with your staff and decide what to do with it at a later time. If you absolutely must choose during this negotiation, you prefer having a community center to a charter school because a community center has more flexibility and will make community members happy. Plus, Superintendent Garcia has told you a large part of her rationale for wanting to close the school is how expensive it is to operate and how difficult it would beperhaps impossibleto increase the student population to fill it. If this school cant make that happen, how could a charter school? Its simply not an option youre interested in.

Principals and Teachers

In this matter you would like to see all the teachers go to a large pool for reassignment. This would buy you the most political points. If convinced, you might be able to settle for sending them to whatever school students go to (that is if they all merge with one single school. If parents get to choose where they want to send their children and hence current WPMS students get split up, this ceases to be an option). Superintendent Garcia might like to see the teachers bought out, but you understand that you would be feeling the retaliation of those teachers through their union in the next election. Youre going to have to mediate this one, but you think that a solution can be reached.

Pay-Off Charts
Transportation
Nothing Metro Cards School Bus Service 5 20 10 A nearby school with middle-of-the road academic performance and offerings (merge) A farther away school with excellent academic performance and offerings

--

--

What school the students will go to

The West Park Middle School Decision

Parents receive choice of schools, with no guarantee that all will get in #1 choice --

What happens to teachers and the principal

Merge together with the school students are moved to Put into a district pool for reassignment to any district school

10

Building use
Goes back to the city 30 10 15

20

Bought-out and end employment with the district

Charter School Community Center

Negotiators Preparation Template

Before you go to your negotiation, take some time to prepare by answering the following questions.

In your role, how do you feel approaching this negotiation? What emotions are driving your current thoughts? What is your BATNA? Your reservation point? What outcome do you hope to achieve? What argument will you use, and how will you frame it? Are there any specific strategies you plan to use?

The West Park Middle School Decision

Do you anticipate this to be a value-claiming or value-creating negotiation? Why? Do you see any opportunities to create alliances to build consensus around any issues? If so, what? If not, why do you think this isnt possible in this negotiation? Are you willing to not reach a deal in this negotiation? Why or why not?

Post-Negotiation Outcomes Form

Your Name: __________________________________ Your Role: ___________________________________ Did your group reach an agreement? Yes_____ No_____ If yes, who voted for the agreement? Parent_____ Principal_____ Superintendent_____ Mayor_____ If yes, what were the terms? How many points did you earn for each of the following? a. Transportation Your points:_____ Nothing_____ Metro_____ School bus service_____ b. Building use Your points:_____

The West Park Middle School Decision

Goes to city_____ Charter school_____ Community center_____ c. Where students will go to school Your points:_____ Nearby/Mid-performing_____ Far away/High-performing_____ Choice_____ d. What happens to teachers/principal Your points:_____ Merge_____ Pool_____ Bought-out_____ Your score (from the above four) Total points:_____ Did anyone apologize during the course of the negotiations? If so, who apologized? Parent_____ Principal_____ Superintendent_____ Mayor_____ Who did they apologize to? Parent_____ Principal_____ Superintendent_____ Mayor_____ Did you negotiate on each term individually, or on a package deal? Individually_____ Package_____

Hot Debrief Form

Creating Value: 1. What facilitated the ultimate settlement? In your opinion, did you create value or lose value in the final settlement?

Emotions/Barriers to Effective Negotiation: 2. How did your own emotion concerning the West Park Middle School affect your negotiating style? How did it affect others behavior in the negotiation?

The West Park Middle School Decision

Consensus Building: 4. What actions did others take to make you feel satisfied or not satisfied? Did these actions build or destroy consensus? (For instance, did they somehow recognize your loss or support your argument?) 3. How satisfied were you with the final outcome on a 1-3 scale (3 being very satisfied)?

Framing: 5. Did you have to re-frame your argument to get what you want? Why or why not?

The West Park Middle School Decision

Teaching Note
Summary of Case

Origins of the Case

When we began the process of developing our own negotiation exercise, our group was certain of one thingthat we wanted to create an exercise based on a potential negotiation that could take place in the education sector. With that in mind, we began exploring some of the issues we studied throughout the semester to isolate the ones that would most plausibly show up in an education sector negotiation. Part of this was done to make the exercise realistic, but it was also partly done to allow usas educatorsto work with aspects of negotiation that were likely to encounter in a more in-depth manner. We ultimately settled on four aspect of negotiation that are endemic to education negotiations. The first, creating value, is a tricky proposition. This is frequently is something that can be accomplished in our field, but its difficult to dowhy? That would be because of our second selected aspect: emotion. Education involves peoples children. Its impossible to take emotions off the table, so exploring how to manage them during a negotiation and hopefully reach a positive, productive outcome is a valuable skill to possess. We felt that framing and consensus building were two other aspects that show up a lot in education, and would complement the other two aspects wed selected as well. Framing is particularly relevant to the management of emotionsyou can frame something as non-emotional, but someone else may see it as seriously driven by emotion. How framing could be used in our negotiation was an intriguing concept. Additionally, our group was also especially taken with how important framing had been in some of the negotiations during the semester. With our objectives driving us, we developed a negotiations exercise around a scenario that has become increasingly common recently: school closure. As districts struggle financially, respond to federal legislation that requires closing and restructuring schools, and handle declining enrollments in once- prosperous and heavily populated areas, this issue comes up more and more. We found this scenario one that was both realistic and appropriate for the four aspects of negotiation that we wished to explore. It was an interesting exercise to develop, involving conversations about who should be at the table, what the alternatives should be, how to set up the stakes for power, and several other negotiation points beyond what we chose to focus on. In the end, we created an intricate, realistic, and powerfully learning-driven exercise that was dynamic and exciting to watch when we beta-tested it.

Key Learning Objectives

1. Creating Value: This deal has the potential to make everyone better off. If there is no deal and the school remains open, everyone loses; walking away means leaving value on the table. The challenge is in overcoming obstacles, addressing emotions, building trust and fostering an environment to

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build consensus and be able to realize the full potential of a good deal in this case. The goal should be to make everyone realize that at the end of the day everyone wants what is in the best interest of the students and community of West Park. 2. Emotions as an Obstacle to an Optimal Deal: Players in this negotiation need to realize that the single greatest obstacle to making a deal that is good for everyone is the fact that parents, community members and teachers are upset about the way the situation has been handled thus far. Since the school holds great sentimental value for the community, parents of WPMS students are thinking emotionally about the loss they will suffer if the school were to be closed down, not objectively considering the economic rationality of the decision. In order to bring them on board, the Superintendent and Mayor have to be cordial, make concessions, and in the case of the Superintendent, perhaps apologize for past miscommunication and behavior that was not intentioned to alienate but did so. 3. Consensus Building: This negotiation occurs with an unpleasant backdrop, where the sentiments of community members have been fueled and there is distrust between the community and the new Superintendent. The Mayor is brought on board to try and mediate the situation and achieve a deal that is in everyones best interest. Participants need to figure out how to reframe narratives to build consensus, overcoming distrust and negative feelings fueled by past disagreements. 4. The Power of Framing: Going in to this negotiation, the players view the situation in very different terms. How do you frame your view to shape the negotiation in your favour? How do you react to others framing the situation in terms that does not work in your favor? In the case of the Superintendent, instead of being high-handed and talking numbers and financial rationale, she could talk to the community in terms of the future of their children, the benefits of moving elsewhere to school, and the different possibilities for how to use the school building. For the PTA representative, any mention of numbers could be met by "this is not about the numbers, it's about the kid's"-type argument. Another possible learning objective is the possible backlashes in uses of framing: If someone uses phrases like "if you really cared about the kids, you would ..." it gives the counterpart a possibility to play be insulted and use the framing in his /her favor. Also: Can successfully using framing overcome power differentials? How can the PTA member accomplish that? In the role of the Mayor, one has to build bridges between different framings of the issue. How is that done? Is there a 3rd way?

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Possible Outcomes

Negative Positive

Reflections: What to Look For in Hot Debriefs

Clearly there are many issues at play in this negotiation. Key items to look for are whether students understand negotiation priorities, payoff structure, and how to frame their narrative to achieve desired outcome. To ensure students learned how to create value the student must explain what value they sought to claim/create and whether or not they found ways to claim that value. Students will hopefully realize more value is claimed if they decide to close West Park Middle School and negotiate a package after closing. Look for how they approached their argument; did they alter priorities after hearing other players priorities? Did they seek to build consensus or alliances to create more value between players? Students may describe how they changed priorities because another player made offensive moves. These moves may have steered them to build new alliances in order to keep the value already created or claimed over the course of the negotiation. On the other hand, students may report creating value because another player apologized for the loss of losing the school or for how difficult keeping the school open and ensuring successful outcomes might be for the principal and superintendent. In terms of framing, first look for how players presented their priorities at the beginning of the negotiation. Then, look for ways in which this initial narrative changed in order to get what they wanted. Did they become offended? Did emotions take control or were moves made by others to keep emotions neutral? Was there an apology or recognition of the loss other players were feeling? Lastly, identify ways students manage their narrative in order to gain empathy or create frustrations in the negotiation.

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Framing should address emotions, alliances, and re-framing narrative. Students may also talk about frustrations of power and authority. For instance, the parent and principal may feel they must make more concessions because they lack decision-making power for the city or district. The superintendent and mayor may exploit their power to manipulate or build consensus with others.

Instructions for Teaching Use Suggested Readings

Thompson, Leigh, 2005. The Mind and the Heart of a Negotiator. Chapter 6 Establishing Trust and Building a Relationship Frenkel, Douglas N. and Liebman, Carol B., Words that Heal, Annals of Internal Medicine; 3/16/2004, Vol. 140 Issue 6, p482-483, 2p Bruner, J. What Is a Narrative Fact? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 560, The Future of Fact (Nov., 1998), pp. 17-2 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1048973

Peer Feedback
We Beta-tested our negotiation on April 27, 2009. Negotiation players were peers from other classes, but all had taken a course on negotiation at Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, or MIT. Overall feedback from our beta testers was overwhelmingly positive. They found it exciting and realistic to participate in, and felt that it was challenging yet possible to reach a positive conclusion. The activitys greatest strength was that most learning objectives were reached. Beta testers reported rising emotions affecting their negotiation tactics. The superintendent specifically did not want to bend to the principals request to guarantee job security for teachers. After a heated debate, the superintendent reframed his narrative by allowing teachers job security for the next year with the condition they will lose tenure positions and be re-evaluated. Sandra White, the parent representative, also built consensus with the principal by supporting the issue of teachers keeping their jobs. It was clear watching the negotiation that each learning objective was realized, and in the ensuing conversation these observations were validated. The weakness of our beta test activity was that our players did not negotiate whether to close the school or keep it open. Our beta testers reported the instructions were not clear about negotiating the issue of closing or not closing the school and had assumed the school was going to close regardless of

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what happened in the closed door negotiation. We decided, with the beta testers, that the negotiation would be much more dynamic and clear with this fixed. A key comment from the beta testers was that they lacked strong BATNAs, which hindered each players ability to create value because they didnt see much need to push the negotiation as they were meeting their BATNAs easily. The tester playing the role of the parent representative also felt he needed more power in his point values to make a strong argument. When we looked at the overall outcomes, the parent had in fact received the least amount of points and, quite expectedly given that outcome, hadnt had many of their interests well-met. Since watching the beta test activity, we have clarified the issue of whether to close or not close the school in the negotiation instructions and re-distributed point values and set accompanying strong BATNAs.