By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

GRESHAM, Ore. – Let’s say you want to extort money from a middle-class family. What would be the most effective tactic? Standing in front of their house with signs demanding dollars, or kidnapping their child and demanding a quick ransom?

The teachers unions have learned that holding children hostage is a very effective way to get what they want, regardless of whether their financial demands are healthy for a school district or not.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

That strategy certainly worked in the Gresham-Barlow school district in Oregon.

The school board and teachers union negotiated for a full year on a new collective bargaining agreement, and could not come to terms. The school board claimed that expensive union demands, in the middle of the recession, would lead to 43 teacher layoffs and 16 fewer instructional days, KGW.com reports.

Then the teachers walked out on strike Wednesday, and the two sides came to an agreement less than 24 hours later. Obviously the strike put extra pressure on the school board to back down from its final offer.

Parents were probably alarmed at the idea of not having their kids in school, or having graduation threatened for seniors. School board members were forced to wonder if their objections to expensive union proposals were important enough to sacrifice instructional time for children. So they obviously caved in, at least to some degree.

This is not a fair system. School boards are elected to look out for the best interests of students and taxpayers, and protect the financial security of the school district. If they take a hard line in labor negotiations, it’s probably because the district can’t afford to meet union demands.

Unions should not be allowed to hold students’ education hostage during contract negotiations. They might as well be allowed to hold guns to the heads of school board members. If teachers are allowed to strike, school boards should be allowed to fire all teachers if negotiations do not produce a new contract within six months. That would spread the pressure out equally.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

A total of 38 states have outlawed teacher strikes. Oregon should do the same, and make the punishment for breaking the law severe.