By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

GENEVA, Ill. – Union teachers in the Geneva school district are expected to walk off the job next month after filing their intent to strike notice late last week.

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

School leaders contend Geneva Education Association officials are intent on walking out on students and were simply going through the motions when they attended a scheduled negotiation session last Friday. The union filed its 10-day strike notice at 4:30 p.m. Friday, but did not present the documents to district officials until five hours into the negotiation session, the Kane County Chronicle reports.

“It is apparent that, while the board has been diligently working since February to achieve an agreement that is good for students, fair to teachers, and fiscally responsible, the union is intent in having the district’s teachers walk off the job in an effort to shut down our school,” school board president Mark Grosso said in a statement.

The teachers union contends it wanted to settle the contract, but filed its intent to strike notice just in case. The teachers can strike as soon as Nov. 9, the news site reports.

We don’t believe there is ever any justifiable reason to leave students flapping in the breeze.

If Geneva teachers walk out on students it will be the at least the sixth teachers strike in the state so far this year, many of which were undoubtedly inspired by the massive Chicago Teachers Union strike at the beginning of the school year.

The CTU essentially got what it wanted, a massive raise with a minimal increase in accountability. That has apparently emboldened neighboring unions to use students as leverage in contract negotiations.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

Of course media reports do not detail the disagreements between district and union officials, so the public has no way of knowing what to believe. The behind-doors negotiations are leaving taxpayers in the dark and their children out of school.

But citizens don’t have to stand for it. They can press their state representatives to outlaw the disgusting union strike tactic to ensure all students receive an education uninterrupted by adult disagreements. Educating students, after all, is the purpose of public education.

Parents and taxpayers can also pressure their local school boards to adopt a more transparent negotiation policy, so they can clearly understand how district and union officials want to spend their money.

Because if the public doesn’t stand up, and parents and taxpayers don’t speak up, then the only voice whispering in lawmakers’ ears will be coming from the union bosses who will say anything to wring more money from public schools for their members.