Does Neshaminy teachers strike put kids in last place?

A Bucks County Courier Times columnist wrote this morning that the teachers strike in the Neshaminy School District is putting the interests of adults over the needs of children. Do you agree, or is that too simple?

A column that ran this morning in the Bucks County Courier Times, about teachers strike in the Neshaminy School District, could ruffle some feathers.

In “When kids come last,” columnist Kate Fratti suggests that what’s really at issue is not what’s good for the kids, but rather “money, contracts, politics, legalities, being right, setting precedent …”

Are kids being hurt in this fight, or isthat an oversimplified characterization?

If the adults embroiled in this fight really had the best interests of children on their minds, she continues:

School programs wouldn’t be the first to shrink in a budget crisis.
Class sizes would be smaller.
Teacher pay would be based on performance, and on a fair scale.
Kids would not be taught merely to pass tests.
Teachers would never strike.
School boards would see to it teachers never had to strike.

It’s quite a wish list.

The teachers’ dispute with the district is the longest school stalemate in Pennsylvania in decades. They have taught for four years without a contract, arguing over how much teachers should contribute to their health insurance.