Parley · Interest-based bargaining
K-12 collective bargaining, built on common ground.
The real conversations still happen in the room. Parley walks district and union teams through every step of Interest-Based Bargaining, and Sage helps guide and mediate as both sides come together at the table.
Current step · Generate Options
How might we structure salary lane movement?
How it works
The table the whole process is built around.
Each side preps privately in its own side-room. Then both teams come together in the shared Negotiation Space — where the real discussion happens, face to face. Parley keeps that conversation structured and on the same step, and Sage helps guide and mediate it, so confidentiality is preserved where it matters and the dialogue stays in the room where it belongs.
The framework
A proven eight-step path from first words to final agreement.
Parley walks both teams through the process together — same step, same time. The discussion stays in the room; each phase locks and ratifies before the next begins.
Joint Opening Statement
Both sides co-author one opening statement and approve it together to set a constructive tone.
Ground Rules
Agree on behavioral, logistical, and communication rules — plus a per-issue discussion timer.
List of Issues
Each side drafts issues privately, then locks and shares them into the joint Negotiation Space.
Identify Interests
Surface the underlying interests beneath each issue, including what the other side most needs.
Generate Options
Brainstorm solutions for every issue. Decline and revisit options as the conversation evolves.
Develop Standards
Define objective criteria — market data, comparables, legal benchmarks — to judge options fairly.
Evaluate Options
Test each option against the standards and interests, then move toward a tentative agreement.
Closure & Resolutions
Write the agreed language, capture intent, ratify with one voice, and park anything for later.
Meet Sage
An AI facilitator that sits at the table with both sides.
Sage doesn't negotiate for you — it helps guide and mediate the discussion as both sides talk it through. Reading the shared context, Sage offers neutral, on-demand suggestions that can be accepted, edited, or dismissed. Sage proposes; the people at the table decide.
In depth
Two of the biggest time-savers, up close.
Compensation modeler
Model the money — together, in real time.
The district uploads its financial model — salary schedules, pools, insurance, and retirement — and both teams watch how every proposal moves the numbers across multiple years. No spreadsheets emailed back and forth, no dueling math.
Where did this number come from? Ask Sage. It returns the exact calculation and the figures behind it — pulled from the district's own baseline — so every total is one both sides can trust.
Allocation against pool
Comparable contracts
Learn from every district — without reading every contract.
Both sides agree on which peer-district contracts count as comparable, so everyone works from the same shared set. When you want to know how other districts handle something, you don't comb through hundreds of pages.
Just ask Sage. It reads across every agreed contract, tells you which districts solved a similar problem, and points you to exactly where in each one to look.
Three of your agreed comparables cap the district's monthly contribution:
A tiered cap that rises 3% a year.
Flat $1,150 single / $1,900 family per month.
Cap tied to a regional cost index.
More inside
The rest of the toolkit.
Confidential side-rooms
Each side gets a private workspace, gated at the database layer — not just hidden in the UI.
Real-time collaboration
Edits, timers, and banners sync live across both teams with role-based access. No refresh needed.
Cross-side issue linking
Connect a union issue with the matching district issue even when each side named it differently.
Member survey
The union side gathers member input that grounds the interests it brings to the table.
Audit trail & ratification
Every change is tracked by person, time, and role. Lock and ratify agreements with one voice.
Contract drafting & export
Sage drafts contract language from the ratified resolutions — ready to export when you're done.
Built to serve both sides of the table.
Parley is intentionally neutral. The platform doesn't favor districts or unions — it equips both with the same structure, the same AI assistance, and the same visibility into shared work. Confidentiality is enforced at the database layer, not just the interface: each side's private room stays private, and the shared space stays shared.
Get started
Ready to negotiate on common ground?
Create a workspace and invite your district and union teams. Parley is invitation-only — request access and we'll get you set up.