School Begins for Athens, Pennsylvania, Schools -- Maybe

Athens area schools located in North Eastern Pennsylvania were scheduled to begin Tuesday September 4, but with the teachers and their contract woes, this may not happen. The teachers union that has been working without a contract for 3 years now has been in negations since that time. Up until last week, it has been business as usual for the teachers and support staff within the district.

The teachers who have attended the open houses to meet new and returning students throughout the district in the past, chose to stay skip the open house for Lynch Bustin Elementary late last week.

This sent a strong message to the parents of the district. Most parents that I have spoken to who have children within the district seem to think this means the teachers will choose to stay home on Tuesday rather then go to work. If the teachers would skip something so important, what is one to think? The parents are now taking a wait and see attitude concerning the upcoming school year.

I myself have two sons within the district a freshman and a sophomore. I am more then ready for them to head back to school, and they are ready as well. However of the teachers do strike this will mean they are home with me during the days.

The teachers are looking for more money in their paychecks. That is understandable to all parents to an extent. We all could use some more money in our paychecks, however our teachers are some of the highest paid here locally.

Our school taxes have increased dramatically in recent years, and many of us have had to sell our homes because it is getting to expensive to live here. The district has remodeled four of the six schools within the district in the past seven years and now those loans due and pushed our tax rates even higher. They also put in a huge football stadium with astro-turf, and huge lights at the high school. The football field its self is estimated to be in the few million dollars range. The old one was fine, we did not need to go to such extremes there, but that point is mute.

Without the students, living in the district there is no need for this. Enrollment within the district is down because of the high taxes that very few parents can afford. So while I understand the teachers point of wanting more money in their paychecks, they need to realize what the effect of that is having on the parents within the district.