Ok, I'll give you that firing the entire staff and starting over is a "solution". So is burning down your house because you don't like the color of the paint in the living room. Why discuss such an absurd "solution" when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it could never happen. Ever. Never. Let's run a little hypothetical....

Distict takes John's advice (even their soliciter King who loves strikes hasn't suggested this) and they fire their entire teaching staff. Notice that they can't actually fire any staff unless they break rules in their contract, which would largly be in effect during the strike - but lets say they find some loophole that lets them. They have to justify to the Unemployment folks that these people all needed to be fired - and they wouldn't be able to do that, so they'd be paying unemployment compensation to these folks - a real fine use of district money. At least during the strike they aren't paying anybody.

Anyway, you realize that the union would essentially blackball the district. No teacher worth anything would ever cross the line to teach there, especially for a district with a track record of firing teachers for reasons outside of a contract.

I could go on, but lets face it. Johns "solution" can't happen - ever. So why discuss it?

It's highly unlikely my solution would ever happen either.

John, don't get me wrong, I'm all for changing the system, but its as ingrained in the educational system as the Steelers are in Pittsburgh. You can't change that. We need to find ways to work within the system.

Please don't pander to the angry parents out there and rant about the children being held hostage. The children will be educated just like before, it just might cut into summer vacation a bit. The strike can't go on so long that the kids don't get their 180 days of instruction.

Nobody likes a strike - particularlly the teachers. Nobody really wins.