Miami-Dade County Schools Negotiations the Essay

To quote Noble's article negotiations commonly follow a four-step path: preparation, information exchange, explicit bargaining, and commitment. ... Negotiation is, in short, a kind of universal dance with four stages or steps. And it works best when both parties are experienced dancers."

So, beginning with step one, there must be preparation. The ground rules must be spelled out and meetings, policy making and ratification procedures need to be drawn up. Secondly, one the ground work can be done there is the education process that must take place where information is exchanged. Thirdly, negotiations must go on. Fourthly, commitment must be secured from the negotiation parties. This will spell out in the establishment of a monitoring and facilitation regime that will ensure that the policies are carried out. Attorney Noble then spells out these steps in greater detail, one that is far beyond the scope of this short policy paper (Noble, 2010).

Before going into the process however it is necessary to briefly consider ethics and culture. The primary clientele of the Miami Dade School District is a polyglot mixture of various Hispanic groups (Cuban, Puerto Rican etc.), Haitian, African-American and many others. The results of the 2000 census show that the population indicated that 57% were Hispanic, non-Hispanic Whites were 24%. 51% of the students are foreign born ("Demographic profile miami-dade," 2003, iii).

Not only will it be necessary to deal with the poorer "have nots." It will be necessary that there be an education of the "haves" that it is in their interests to facilitate school boundaries that integrate the diverse population. The watchword is that the negotiations be open-ended. This may take years, but the time will be worth it. Evolution is always better that revolution and with time, an accommodation can be found to the problems of the Miami-Dade schools.

Works Cited

Boston still vexed by school busing. (2009, November 1). Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/01/boston-still-vexed-by-school-busing/

Busing's boston massacre. (2010). Retrieved 15 July 2010 from http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/7768

Demographic profile miami-dade county, florida 1960-2000. (2003, September).

Retrieved 14 July 2010 from http://www.miamidade.gov/planzone/Library/Census/demographic_profile.