School Board Transparency Recognized

Carlisle School Board member Fred Baldwin wins award for Commonwealth Foundation project promoting open school district labor negotiations

HARRISBURG, PA — Fred Baldwin, manager of the Commonwealth Foundation’s School Board Transparency project and a member of the Carlisle School Board, received the Sam Adams Alliance award for Top Wikiteer for his contributions to the Sunshine Review transparency website. Baldwin was presented a “Sammie,” along with a cash prize, on April 18th in Chicago, Illinois.

As part of an effort to provide greater transparency in school district labor negotiations,  Baldwin and the Commonwealth Foundation have created a “how-to” manual for school board members looking to provide greater transparency during union negotiations, and a resource for the public and media to learn more about public school labor negotiations. This guide is available online in a wiki format on the Sunshine Review website, www.SunshineReview.org.  

Sunshine Review also allows users to evaluate the transparency of, and post and track information about, all 501 Pennsylvania school districts.  Information on the Pennsylvania state budget and local government transparency can also be found on the Pennsylvania project of Sunshine Review.

In addition to the online guide, the School Board Transparency Project features a website and blog at SchoolBoardTransparency.org, which offers insight and advice in the labor negotiations process for school boards and citizens.  The site provides regular posts on developments, news, and best practices in Pennsylvania school district labor negotiations, and features an “Honor Roll” of school districts that have done the best job in providing information to citizens on labor contract negotiations.  

“Congratulations are in order to Fred for his award, and for all of his work to promote greater transparency in school board contract negotiations,” said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation and a former teacher and public school board member.  “Greater openness and public understanding of the underlying issues in school contracts is key to reducing the frequency of teacher strikes and unresolved labor negotiations in Pennsylvania.”

The complete list of award winners can be found on the Sam Adams Alliance Website, www.SamAdamsAlliance.org.

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The Commonwealth Foundation (www.CommonwealthFoundation.org) is an independent, non-profit public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg, PA.