BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP -- Teachers in the Montrose Area School District are scheduled to be on the picket line Tuesday.
Members of the teachers union and the school board cannot come to a contract agreement, so teachers in the school district have given notice they will go on strike.
"I think it's kind of childish to be honest because I mean, yeah, you don't understand all like the stuff that they're going through but I feel like they could come to an agreement if they just kind of grew up,” said Caroline Stack, a Montrose Area student.
According to the district website and board members, the main issue is salaries. District officials say teachers in Montrose Area are among the best paid in the area, even the state. But union members say they've been negotiating ‘in good faith’ and thought they had agreed on a contract, only to be offered ‘a different proposal.’
But union members say they've been negotiating ‘in good faith’ and thought they had agreed on a contract, only to be offered ‘a different proposal.’There are signs of support for the teachers in the area.
There are signs of support for the teachers in the area.
Theresa Vaccaro's mom is a teacher in the district.
"A lot of people are saying it's the teachers' fault and it's really not their fault because the school board is not cooperating but I mean I guess they have to do what they have to do but I just wish it didn't have to end like this,” said Theresa Vaccaro, a Montrose Area student.
Not everyone sides with the union.
"I think that the teachers are just being greedy, I think they're overpaid already, one teacher makes $10,000 more than the average house income in our County, I think it's ridiculous,” said Patrick Strickland of Montrose.
Patrick Strickland is related to a school board member. He worries about the toll the strike will take on everyone.
“Kids, families, working-families, I mean what are you supposed to do with your kids when there's no school? I mean I have to take off work, my wife works, like somebody has to be home with your kids."
There's no word exactly how long this strike will last.although school officials tell us it cannot go any longer than 9 days.
Although school officials tell us it cannot go any longer than nine days.
