Ed, you have some great suggestions on costs savings in the school district. A consortium is a really good idea and would save money for the taxpayers as well as the teachers. I must say that the teachers really do need to contribute more to their benefits regardless to that great idea. I couldn't agree more that Mr. Santicola is incompetent, but then I feel the majority of the problems between the district residents/board and teachers is the union.

I graduated from South Butler and I did have some very good teachers, I also had some real stinkers too. I think we need some education reform and throw tenure out the door. It is hurting our children by protecting bad to mediocre teachers. South Butler has some teachers worth their weight in gold too. I have one child who graduated from there and one still there. They still have some stinkers there.

Jim, I have relocated a few times in my life time. I must say before I had children I didn't care about the school district I was living in. My niece who is a teacher relocated to Maryland with a slightly higher starting wage. She found out when she moved there that the cost of living was MUCH higher there and she has a lot of different types of problems to deal with then South Butler. It is a very low income area with "inner city" type issues. She loves to teacher and she is staying there even though it's not an ideal place to raise her son. She finds it's a calling and she is blessed for it. My biggest beef with teachers negotations is "striking". I truly believe that if teachers did not WALK OUT on me as a taxpayer or my child that you would not have the community so torn apart by teachers contracts and I personally would be more apt to support them. I have spoke with several other parents and taxpayers that feel that same way. Simply do not walk out on us or our children. We cannot put off paying our taxes without penalty while the teachers are striking. There needs to be penalties if this happens. I fully support Daryl Metcalfe's stop teacher strikes bill now in the house of representatives. Also, The County Commissioner's have approved some tax-free incentives to draw new businesses (good paying ones) to the County. One such industrial park is in Clinton Township. Once that tax-free time period is up, the school district will reap those benefits. You are so right that it is a choice of our teachers to stay where they are and the same goes for the residents of the district. However, I moved back to where I grew up and sending my children to the same district because I love the area. I pay my taxes on time and in full ALWAYS. When I said previously that I come from a long line of teachers I wasn't kidding. My grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, 2 aunts, 3 cousins, and a niece. I know how dedicated these particular teachers are. I'm proud of every one of them because they are very good at what they do. Also, my sons both had a kindergarten teacher (now deceased) that spoke broken english. She was put in that position because they felt she would do the least harm and since she was a minority they couldn't get rid of her. I find that sad. This is not new to South Butler, but I know it happens in other districts as well. In closing I truly believe if we end teachers strikes we will not have communities torn apart by these negotiations any more.

Merry Christmas to everyone and God bless.