North Penn teachers' strike has parents scrambling
Students in the North Penn School District voiced varied opinions Monday about the teachers' strike that has suspended classes. But one thing they agreed on: Snow days plus strike days equals a threat to vacation days.
"I don't mind the strike as much as some," said Blase Porretti, 16, a sophomore at North Penn High School, in Towamencin Township. "But I mind staying in school until June 30."
Porretti spent Monday skateboarding with friends at White Road Community Park in Lansdale, while other students spent their day off shooting basketballs, sleeping in, or staging their own counterdemonstration.
The strike shut down classes in Montgomery County's largest school district, leaving 12,700 students and their parents to find alternate plans for their days.
Officials representing the school district and the North Penn Education Association (NPEA), the union representing teachers, are tentatively scheduled to return to the bargaining table Tuesday, said union president Alan Malachowski. Talks broke off Sunday.
The walkout can last only through next Tuesday because state law requires students to have 180 school days before June 30. Each missed day adds another to the end of the school calendar.
The union proposed no salary increase in the first year and raises of between 2.50 and 2.85 percent in each of the next four years.
The union recommendation was initially suggested by a three-member panel during nonbinding-arbitration proceedings. While the union accepted it, the school board did not, even though the agreement was recommended by its representative on the arbitration
"I don't mind the strike as much as some," said Blase Porretti, 16, a sophomore at North Penn High School, in Towamencin Township. "But I mind staying in school until June 30."
Porretti spent Monday skateboarding with friends at White Road Community Park in Lansdale, while other students spent their day off shooting basketballs, sleeping in, or staging their own counterdemonstration.
The strike shut down classes in Montgomery County's largest school district, leaving 12,700 students and their parents to find alternate plans for their days.
Officials representing the school district and the North Penn Education Association (NPEA), the union representing teachers, are tentatively scheduled to return to the bargaining table Tuesday, said union president Alan Malachowski. Talks broke off Sunday.
The walkout can last only through next Tuesday because state law requires students to have 180 school days before June 30. Each missed day adds another to the end of the school calendar.
The union proposed no salary increase in the first year and raises of between 2.50 and 2.85 percent in each of the next four years.
The union recommendation was initially suggested by a three-member panel during nonbinding-arbitration proceedings. While the union accepted it, the school board did not, even though the agreement was recommended by its representative on the arbitration