1973-11-12-AC-MIN.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

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°5,�aRh'� TOWN OF LEXINGTON Oa0 !3. CO 3 p x_3, Massachusetts 4 \ J_,o A S ZV,n, " �'" Appropriation Committee �ek»�To., � ._ November 12, 1973 Mr. Frederick C. Frick, Chairman Lexington School Committee Town Office Building Lexington, MA 02173 Dear Fred: Throughout our various discussions of the school budget, I think one matter has become clear to both of us : the most significant factor in the annual budget increase comes from changes in the level of teachers salaries. And as a con- sequence, the agreements reached between the School Commit- tee and the Lexington Education Association in collective bargaining become one of the major components in our tax rate. The Appropriation Committee has given this subject much discussion, and we have concluded that the citizens of Lexington should be better informed about the nature and con- tent of your negotiations with the LEA. As a first step, we believe that your committee should make public the initial proposals submitted by the LEA. In this way the public would be informed early of the extent of their requests and how these demands relate to the final settlement. We also believe that in the absence of open negotiations , periodic progress reports should be provided to both our com- mittee and the public at large. We firmly believe that a more wide-ranging awareness of the extent and content of the collec- tive bargaining process will enable our fellow townspeople to judge for themselves the reasonableness of the requests and validity of the ultimate settlement. We are not asking for this public disclosure from your commit- tee alone, but are making a similar request to the Board of Selectmen in relation to their union collective bargaining as well . We ask that you give this matter your most serious consideration. Yours truly, le;4tei-tert, et,-(4z,..0 Edward E. Furash Chairman EEF/w