They may have signed confidentiality agreements and sworn off speaking to reporters, but there’s no time like the first day of contract negotiations for a photo op. The man with the shaved head on the left is teachers union president Michael Mulgrew and on the right, the man who seems to be daring Mulgrew to blink is James Hanley, the city’s commissioner of labor relations.
Where is Chancellor Joel Klein? He doesn’t typically attend contract negotiations, a Department of Education official said. Instead, the DOE sends its director of labor relations, David Brodsky, who is sitting on Hanley’s right. It’s Hanley’s job to see that a deal is made, whereas Brodsky focuses on the contract details. Officials from the Office of Management and Budget often sit in to make sure the city doesn’t spend too much money.
Can you identify anyone else?