There is both irony and sardonicism in a teacher union claim in a Thursday news story that the school board should be “putting students first and valuing teachers” in the contract impasse that has led to a strike.

For 50 years and more, the teachers’ union has been putting teachers, not students, first, in its sub rosa alliance with provincial preservationists of five, and then four, high schools despite declining enrollment that now finds some schools forfeiting football games because of too few students. Four high schools means more jobs for teachers. I reported on the school board for upwards of 20 years, and saw the budget figures that reflect that reality.

Common sense, population patterns and geography all dictate that the district would operate most efficiently with high schools in Warren and Youngsville. Efficiency translates into not spending money unnecessarily. There would be more money for teacher salaries if there were fewer teachers, fewer cafeteria staffs, fewer athletic teams, etc. But teachers have not joined with proponents of two high schools. Instead, they have quietly stoked the separatism that allows some self-centered people to relive their lives as “Wolverines” or “Knights” (or “Eagles” or “Dragons,” for that matter, since consolidated high schools might have new mascots). This retrospection is driving taxes through the roof, forcing the neighbors of those separatists out of their homes for want of money.

If and when the teachers put their educations and experience to good use by telling the rest of us that the current setup is no longer affordable for taxpayers or fair to students, then their criticism of the school board might resonate more fully outside of their immediate families.

Denny Bonavita

Brookville