Beyond the fact that there isn't a contract agreement despite 20 months of negotiations, the most troubling aspect of the ongoing Seneca Valley School District teachers contract impasse is that the two sides' proposals remain so far apart.

Going into a negotiations session scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today at the district administration center, the average per-teacher pay gap between the competing proposals remains at $28,391 for the five years of the proposed contract, based on the fact that the school district is offering the teachers 4 percent pay increases each year while the teachers are demanding about 7.1 percent annually.

Until last week, despite the ongoing stalemate, the cumulative pay realities of the two sides' proposals had, for the most part, been ignored in information about the contract negotiations that the district had provided to the public. That was unfortunate because the district had an obligation from the start to keep the taxpayers fully informed about a detail so important.

The district contract proposal currently on the table calls for the teachers to receive raises of $2,230 retroactive to 2006-07 (the previous five-year contract expired on June 30, 2006), $2,319 for 2007-08, $2,420 for 2008-09, $2,521 for 2009-10, and $2,623 for 2010-11.

The teachers union is seeking average raises of $3,996 for 2006-07, $4,137 for 2007-08, $4,363 for 2008-09, $4,646 for 2009-10, and $4,833 for 2010-11.

Because each year's raise would carry over to subsequent years of the pact, the average actual new money that the district's proposal would provide to each teacher during the five years of the contract would be $35,351. The new money that the teachers are seeking is $63,742 — thus the $28,391 pay gap.

The school district contends that its proposal would necessitate 18.26 mills of taxation on top of the approximately 130-mill tax currently on the books. Tom King, chief negotiator for the district, said the teachers' proposal would require about 35 mills of additional taxation.

All of that ignores the big hit facing property tax payers stemming from the Pennsylvania General Assembly's shortsighted — "unconscionable" is a better word — 2001 action increasing lawmakers' pension benefits by 50 percent and teachers', by 25 percent.

It has been estimated that the full impact of that action will begin hitting school districts' pension contributions about 2012, although the impact already is being felt to a lesser degree.

Meanwhile, there has not been any action by the legislature to lessen the potential destructive force of this impending tax monster.

Unfortunately for Seneca Valley taxpayers, the focus on the current contract talks, while having consistently ignored the cumulative impact of the pay raises proposed for the new contract, also has failed to emphasize taxpayers' upcoming huge additional pension obligation.

In an article in Sunday's Butler Eagle, the Seneca Valley Education Association took issue with the financial picture painted by the school district at a public forum Thursday evening that the union refused to attend. In that article, Pat Andrekovich, union negotiation committee chairman, said the district is capable of funding a 7.1 percent salary increase without raising taxes.

"In the fact-finder's report, it was very clear that they (district) could fund our proposal without one tax dollar being raised," Andrekovich said.

The union contends the district's $14.1 million fund balance could be used to pay the higher salaries, but King noted Thursday that the teachers' proposal would exhaust the fund by the third year of the new contract, making a significant tax hike thereafter virtually unavoidable.

Most Seneca Valley teachers don't feel the impact of any decision by the board to raise taxes. Only about 278 of the district's 575 teachers actually live in the district.

Thus, of the total teaching staff, 297 instructors won't be affected by any increased property taxes resulting from the new contract, whether or not the fund balance is spent.

Additionally, school district officials would be foolhardy to exhaust the fund balance on salaries when Seneca Valley, which faces big growth pressures, will have many needs for that money in coming years while attempting to keep up with that no-end-in-sight growth.

It's up to the school district and teachers' union to find a solution to the current impasse. No one can do that for them.

Perhaps they'll find it tonight.

But in order to do that, the wide gap in the cumulative pay impact is going to have to close, either from a negative perspective for the district and taxpayers or from the more-than-double-the-rate-of-inflation wage demands that the teachers have on the negotiations table.

Perhaps, considering the chasm that exists, a strike is inevitable. But both sides need to keep in mind that school strikes oftentimes result in hard feelings that linger for years.

Both sides need to reflect on the long-term effects of the dispute, not only for themselves but for the people paying the bill — many of whom who never will receive a 7 percent wage increase or make the average $54,000 salary that Seneca Valley teachers enjoy while working under terms of the expired pact.

But even those who make much less and, thus, face more difficult household financial challenges recognize the importance of having good, dedicated teachers, and Seneca Valley does have that kind of teachers.

The current contract crisis can be defined as a stalemate, but it is not a stalemate without a solution.

Tonight will help determine whether the 2007-08 school year will be remembered for its unrest or for the educational achievements that it produces.

Regardless of what lies ahead, district residents don't deserve to be denied important information that will affect their wallets and pocketbooks.