Last July, the contract between the Lawrence Teacher’s Association and the Lawrence School Board expired, leaving teachers to continue providing students with an education with no future contract in sight. And while they have continued to do their job, there have been no definitive plans for a sit down between the two parties.

This contractual limbo has resulted in the Lawrence Teachers’ Union holding protests demanding a new contract, most recently in front of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) High School on Feb. 2. With protests planned to continue – and the recent controversy surrounding the fact that the LTA has begun demonstrating in front of private schools – the time for a settlement is upon us.

As you can see by some of the letters on page 47 this week, the recent protest by the LTA in front of HAFTR has sparked some of our readers to question the reasons for the LTA bringing their issue to the private schools. Many feel that the issue of the contract dispute between the LTA and the school board has no bearing on private schools. Some have even stated that it is an insult to the private school community to bring the protest to HAFTR’s front door.

This spark of controversy, along with the LTA’s plans to continue their protests in front of private schools, could quickly ignite a level of anger that could burn for quite some time, which is why now is the best time to settle this.

It is clear to see that both sides have their reasons why no contract has been drawn up, or why there is no plans to do so in the near future. The school board feels that they have to address the other outstanding contact with the Lawrence Facilities Management Association, made up of head custodians, who have been working without a contract for the last three-and-a-half years. Also, the school psychologists have not had a contract since last July, which is also a school board priority. On the flipside, the LTA feels that working without an agreement is demoralizing, especially when they have had some teacher positions cut in the last few years, and the fact that the teachers are working with a feeling of instability, that they have no contract now, and no plans to secure one. Also, while many in the district feel the Lawrence teachers, who currently have the second highest salaries in Nassau County, according to the State Education Department, are too highly paid for the performance shown by the students on various state standardized tests, the LTA argues that bashing them hurts morale.

The time to come to some sort of agreement is here. Both the Lawrence School Board and the teachers it employs are here for one purpose – to educate our children – which is the true priority. It is time that both sides sit down and iron this out.