It’s sadly ironic to see the multitude of smiling faces, nice haircuts and even nicer footwear treading the picket line at Shaler Area School District, where members of the Shaler Area Education Association are striking over wages and health care benefits.

It’s not exactly the traditional image of grim-faced laborers intent on a defiant act of civil disobedience protesting an oppressive employer.

Teacher strikes in Pennsylvania have become photo-op rituals, rendered that way by Act 88 of 1992, which sets out strict rules and provisions for when and how long public school teachers are allowed to strike.

Act 88 mandates a 48-hour strike notice, arbitration and fact-finding. Strikes are limited in length, requiring that 180 days of instruction be completed before the scheduled end of the school year.

There’s no worry about losing their jobs — there are curbs against hiring replacement teachers during strikes. There is no interruption in pay or benefits for striking teachers.

In short, there’s no consequence for what years ago constituted an act of civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience is a central tenet of organized labor. Saul Alinsky, recognized by many as the father of community organizing, wrote that the first rule of organizing is that there are no rules — the rules are superseded by the will of people rallied around a righteous cause.

By Alinsky’s standard, teacher strikes aren’t really strikes at all; rather, they have become part of a ritual, a necessary if inconvenient step in a legislated process for resolving labor-management differences. They have become an irritation to be endured, if not ignored.

Here’s an idea: Skip the strike.

The Shaler school board proposed just that last week at the end of a seven-hour negotiation session. The district proposed that the teachers forego their intent to strike and, instead, enter into final best-offer arbitration, the next step under provisions of Act 88 — which will happen automatically when the strike lasts the maximum length allowed.

The teachers union struck anyway. And why not? There’s no economic penalty for striking.

Strikers hope inconvenienced parents will pressure the school board to cede to teachers’ demands. But taxpayers increasingly disagree with teachers over what constitutes fair compensation and reasonable contributions for health care coverage.

Pennsylvania should consider doing what 39 states already do: ban teacher strikes. Impose stiff penalties for violations of a strike ban. Teachers should not be allowed to interrupt classes to negotiate taxpayer-funded compensation packages, just as parents face legal ramifications if they prevent a child from attending classes for weeks.

It’s time to show a little less civility toward this particular brand of disobedience. Ban teacher strikes in Pennsylvania.