Ed, I think my suggestion of firing the teachers being compared to your analogy of burning your home down because of a room color as being an absurd comparison. Burning your home down because of its color would be the action of a crazy person. My suggestion is not crazy, it happens all the time. People do get fired Ed, and for a lot less than what these teachers are doing. I like thinking outside the box and I have taken it one step further by suggesting firing, because I think the current system in place stinks and so do many people who read my posts. By suggesting firing I am indeed talking about disbanding the current teaching organization in this area. Don't tell me it can't be done, we are the taxpayers; ultimately we decide what happens because we pay the salaries. People always said there would never be an African American elected to the office of the President too Ed and it came to pass! Anything is possible if you think outside the box. Would firing the teachers create a chaotic situation? Of course it would. But , I would look at it as a temporary inconvenience for a permanent solution. I would like to see this teachers union disbanded, they just have too much power and as we can all see they abuse it. Never say never Ed. Things always have a way of coming around if enough people care enough to see the change through to the end. You say that “nobody likes a strike and that nobody really wins” I agree!! So my question to you is why have them? If they are not productive but are destructive to our children and community I say do away with them. If that means doing away with the current structure of things , so be it!! I am all for it!! Why keep a current system in place that is so badly flawed? It is old fashioned thinking that is to blame for our justice system as well letting so many criminals off the hook and leaving victims crying for justice. If the systems in place don’t work for us( the tax payer) then they are worthless. By doing away with them we are really losing nothing, By replacing them we are gaining. Keeping systems in place that are harmful to the development of our young people and our community is irresponsible. I think the entire community should back change in this area. I personally am tired of getting higher taxes and bigger school buildings built in return for my hard earned tax dollars when I still have to show my children how to find the answers to their homework because of poor instruction during class time by the educator!! This to me is unacceptable. Maybe the situation is different in your area, Good for you. John