SCRANTON, Pa. — The Scranton Federation of Teachers is planning to strike when the clock strikes 12:01 on the morning of Wednesday, November 3.
That decision came after the school board approved a budget that does not include pay raises for teachers.
"It's really bad. It's not on the parent that parents should not be struggling; teachers should not be struggling. It's not fair to them at all," said parent Nicole Young.
Teachers have been working without a new contract- and without raises since 2017.
The president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, Rosemary Boland, said in a statement:
"We've reached the end of the line and our patience with the Scranton School District. The district has refused to address our concerns about the slash-and-burn budget cuts that are significantly affecting the quality of education."
The last time teachers here went on strike was back in 2015. Parents are hoping this doesn't lead to their children missing school.
"Kind of concerns me because I have four kids that are in school. So now I work overnight. So I'm wondering so what the kids are going to do," added Young.
Youngs says children back out of the classroom is worst-case scenario.
She said, "Last year, because the pandemic, it really messed us up because we had our kids at home doing online schooling. So now this year, they're finally back in school, and now the teachers are not getting paid for what they're getting paid for. So it's really messing all of us up, so it's messing the teachers up, the kids up the parents up. It's just it's not fair for anybody."
Meanwhile, the district says the union won't work to reach a compromise and that the strike notice "does nothing to achieve that goal, but instead disrupts our students' education and critical return to the familiarity and stability of the classroom, in a futile attempt to achieve an unrealistic, unaffordable and unattainable goal."
The district claims it could not give the teachers a raise in pay without raising taxes.
"And that's not fair. So they need to raise taxes. They have to do whatever they have to do, but teachers need to be able to be at school and teach their kids the kids need education, and that's top priority is children," said Young.
The 2022 budget is not a done deal just yet.
The Scranton school board has until December to finalize the budget.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline.