Maybe the fact that the SAD 52 (Turner, Greene, Leeds) school budget was rejected in Greene and Leeds could be an eye opener for the wage and package negotiations that go on every three years for the teachers.

Allow the local taxpayers to be involved during the negotiations and maybe the school administration would not be so surprised with the failure to confirm the budget.

The average taxpayer has not seen a wage increase in years, even if they have a job. If members of the teachers’ union want to discuss a three-year wage and benefit package, they need to converse with the people who will pay those costs and see the end results. After all, the taxpayers are actually the employers of teachers and school administration.

The days of closed-door negotiations must end. The days of automatic wage and benefit increases every year must end.

With high school graduation numbers getting lower yearly, it is time to stop throwing hard-earned dollars away and find out what else may work to better educate our children.

Maybe the union has the answers.

Steven Goulet, Greene