As a parent of a new freshman at Kentwood High School, I am frustrated at the continued teachers’ strike for many reasons, but mostly because I want my daughter back in school. She’s had a great summer, has grown and matured in many ways, and she’s ready to get back to the business of learning, growing and changing. That includes returning to school. Alas, it isn’t that easy if you have kids in the Kent School District. The teachers voted to strike on August 26, delaying the first day of school indefinitely.

Originally scheduled to go back on August 31, we finished our back-to-school clothes and supplies shopping in mid-August. We did haircuts, room cleaning and laundry catch-up; my daughter even practiced waking up early to ensure she wouldn’t miss her 6:55 am bus. We even had a going-back-to-school lunch with another mom and her teen daughters to celebrate the start of school! It is now September 8, and we have no teachers, no school, and no bus. Parents are anxious to return to work or at least to their regular schedules, and kids want to go back to school but it is out of our hands.

Based on what I’ve read and heard, I support the Kent teachers and their arguments and reasons for going on strike. Classroom size and time with students are critical components to a good education, and I admire the teachers for standing up for their personal beliefs at all costs. The KSD, on the other hand, is trying to force the teachers back without an agreement, essentially stripping the teachers of their bargaining power.

At the same time, I see people all around me without jobs and I wonder why we can’t find some sort of compromise. Since that hasn’t yet occurred, I’m asking myself and fellow parents why this negotiation process is so difficult. Is it the mediation team who can’t iron out the details or the parties involved? Is KSD digging in its heels and throwing its weight around, or are the teachers making negotiations difficult? It feels like there other issues that haven’t been publicly disclosed, but if that’s the case, what are they? What are we missing? Did some union rep push for a controversial strike this year, or perhaps the KSD decided that its new administration had to take a hard line?

Without a dedicated media source or unbiased third party involved to focus on and investigate the inside story, it is hard to identify ALL of the REAL issues in this Kent teachers’ strike. Instead, we only hear what each of the two sides chooses to disseminate, and we are left to wonder what’s really going on and when a resolution will be reached. In the meantime, the students are the ones suffering.

Let’s get this strike resolved and get our kids back in school. That’s who we’re fighting for, isn’t it?

The Kent School District has posted its calendar for the 2009-2010 school year.

Highlights:

8/31:  First day of school

11/26 – 11/27:  No School, Thanksgiving Break

12/21 – 1/01/10:  No School, Winter Break

2/15 – 2/19/10:  No School, Mid-Winter Break

4/5 – 4/9/10:  No School, Spring Break

6/18/10:  Last Day of School (dependent on snow days to be made up)

Subject to change. Please see the school district’s online calendar for changes and up-to-date information.