Regardless of what happens in the ongoing negotiations between the Seneca Valley School District and its teachers union, teacher strikes will be on the minds of many Pennsylvanians this fall.

According to a recent report in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, there are 80 school districts across the state where contracts with teachers have expired.

The 1992 passage of Act 88, which mandates that students receive a minimum of 180 days of instruction, did result in fewer and shorter teacher strikes. But Pennsylvania still has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in such strikes. One contributing factor is that Pennsylvania is just one of 13 states where teacher strikes are legal.

That could change if a small-but- growing number of state lawmakers convince their colleagues to pass one of two bills expected to be introduced when the legislature returns to work later this month.

Both bills, one sponsored by a Republican in the House and another sponsored by a Democrat in the Senate, would prohibit teacher strikes and require more transparency in the negotiating process.

Greater transparency alone could have a major impact in encouraging the two sides to put forward reasonable proposals. Having to face the public, meaning taxpayers, and defend their positions would require that each side justify its proposal.

The most notable bill making strikes illegal is sponsored by state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, and would impose a schedule for negotiations that would begin in the September before the contract expires. Rock's bill would mandate a negotiation timeline that would mostly be conducted in public.

This aspect of Rock's proposal is appropriate because taxpayers deserve to have a greater say in how their money is spent in teachers contracts — as well as those for other unionized public workers.

The alternative bill, sponsored by state Sen. Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, would impose a bargaining schedule. Then, if no settlement was reached after eight months, the county president judge would choose one of the two sides' final proposals.

Mellow's plan to have one of two final offers selected would also encourage reasonableness in negotiations. Too often, the compromise approach used today encourages the two sides to move apart, rather than toward common ground.With a compromise solution, the two sides assume they will bargain away or give up things as they move toward an agreement. The Mellow plan to have a judge pick the most reasonable final offer would encourage the two sides to avoid extreme positions, for fear of having their proposal rejected altogether.

Rock's bill also would dock teachers two days' pay for every day of an illegal strike. This, too, is appropriate, since under the current conditions, teachers give up nothing when they strike. Contracts generally include retroactive pay and compensate teachers even for days they were on strike.

That is not the real-world environment that other unionized workers live in when they contemplate a strike. Work stoppages are serious and have consequences. There should be tangible, monetary consequences for teachers.

The bill sponsored by Rock, a former non-union public school teacher, is the most promising measure to end teacher strikes in Pennsylvania and bring about reasonable contract settlements.

More than a decade after the passage of Act 88, there still is not a level playing field between teachers unions and school districts.

With 25 co-sponsors, Rock's bill has more support than any previous proposal to end teacher strikes in Pennsylvania. But supporters understand that they have an uphill battle because of the political power of the state's teachers union (Pennsylvania State Education Association).

Still, most people agree that something needs to change. Since 1970, there have been 974 teacher strikes in the commonwealth. And since 2000, public school teachers here have called 82 strikes, more than half of all the teachers strikes in the United States during that period.

Whether or not Seneca Valley teachers reach an agreement with the school board or go out on strike, there is growing support in Butler County and across the state to end teachers strikes and change the dynamics that have caused Pennsylvania to be the teacher strike capital of America.

Both proposals by Rock and Mellow contain common-sense ideas and model themselves after laws in other states that have been largely successful in ending teacher strikes.

The status quo regarding teachers contract negotiations and strikes in Pennsylvania must change. Rock's plan is stronger, with greater public disclosure and the imposition of financial costs for striking teachers.