Thumbs up to the teachers

But who do we believe?

From today's Courier Times editorial page . . .

Thumbs Up: To Neshaminy School District teachers for minding their manners amid labor turmoil.

Hundreds of teachers met with union leaders this week for an update on stalled contract negotiations. While the meeting turned into a bit of a pep rally, it's encouraging that the morale-booster didn't include strike threats or talk of a work slowdown.

Parents should appreciate the teachers' apparent desire to avoid disrupting the school year -perhaps a lesson learned from an earlier slowdown that did little but cast a pall over the school environment and turn parents against them.

If only teachers and their union leaders could learn as much about district finances. Fact is, the numbers are compellingly against the union's contract proposal. They've got to give a lot more than they've offered; maybe then the school board would find ways, if there are any, to up its offer.

The Courier Times' Ed staff is basing this on comments from a teacher who attended Tuesday night's rally and was willing to speak with reporter Rachel Canelli under the condition of anonymity. But anyone who watched the Fox 29 interview with Louise Boyd might have a different view of what happened on Tuesday night. The union president kept repeating the same answer that "we discussed everything," suggesting that a strike vote and/or WTC might still be under consideration.

So who should we believe? An anonymous teacher who provided information to a reliable news reporter, or the NFT President with a history of making accusations but offering no proof to support her claims.

I'll go with the anonymous source.