I find this entire ordeal sad, very sad. I, like all of the parents in the district, want nothing but the best for our children – starting with a good education.

Unless I am missing something here, it feels like the teachers union is being unreasonable regarding thier salary demands. What also is not being said is that once this strike is settled, the teachers go back to work and will not have lost one cent of income, unlike other unions that strike. So this strike is a mirage.

In the end the teachers will settle for something less than the 11 percent increase they have lobbied to receive, which in my industry and many others represents an increase for truly outstanding achievements. Last year I received a 4 percent increase.

The school board is offering 6.6 percent, this for a group of individual who have chosen a profession that has a salary structure and based on the $54,000 average salary per year, for nine months of work. Sorry, but I am not on board that the teachers are underpaid, not when my son comes home from school every day with two hours of homework – lessons I believe should be completed in the classroom.

The state should take a hard line stand and break the union. Let some of these teacher try working in a district or school located in a low-income area.

Bill Beck