In preparing to discuss the roles of administrators, board members, and the negotiator in school collective bargaining, the author lists his "tried and true" principles and outlines the differences between bargaining in the public and private sectors. An important difference between the two kinds of bargaining is that school board members, unlike corporate boards, are the weakest part of the bargaining team because they lack experience in bargaining. Because of this inexperience, administrators and negotiators must spend a lot of time educating them. Other major differences between private and public bargaining include the presence of third-parties (reporters and the public, for instance), supervisors with ambivalent loyalties, and no-strike provisions. Preparation is a key element in successful bargaining. Preparation includes choosing the bargaining team, meeting with and involving supervisors, reviewing the old contract, preparing a strike contingency plan, creating appropriate ground rules, and drawing up management's demands. Once bargaining is underway, the management team should receive and review the teachers' demands, present its own demands, rank both sets for how seriously each side values them, and bargain on the "easy" provisions first. It is important that the bargaining team act professionally and that the negotiator keep his or her word. (Author/IRT)