Let reason prevail

We can all cross our fingers and hope that sanity will now prevail in the Middletown School District.

The lengthy teachers’ strike, almost twice as long as the last one, took a toll on everyone: parents, students, teachers and board members alike.

To hear the teachers tell it, the strike was the only way to achieve a fair settlement because the Board of Education refuses to negotiate in good faith.

To hear board members tell it, that’s simply not true. It was the union that showed bad faith by not moving ahead to the fact-finding stage of negotiations.

Rather than fact-finding, the sides will now participate in nonbinding arbitration with an arbitrator recommending settlement terms.

The events of last week cast a pall over the district which will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Nobody ever expected or wanted to see township teachers go to jail. It wasn’t a pretty picture for anyone, particularly students, who must be completely baffled.

Many people feel compelled to take sides, supporting the teachers and blasting the judge for tossing them in jail or supporting the board and wishing the judge had thrown away the key.

But there are really no winners here. Everyone’s a loser when teachers go to jail — the board, the union, the district, the parents and, especially, the kids.

Let’s hope that reason can now prevail and that a settlement will finally be reached.