SHAMOKIN -- It's day one of a teachers strike in the Shamokin Area School District. It's the second strike in the district this school year.
Many parents in the Shamokin Area School District scrambled to find babysitters or rearrange their schedules due to the strike.
Teachers say there are several reasons they went on strike. The main reason is money.
Teachers in the Shamokin Area School District held up signs as they picketed through Shamokin during the first day of their strike. The school board rejected an agreement worked out by an arbitrator. So for the second time this school year, they are picketing.
"The school board had every opportunity to do the right thing by accepting the neutral arbitrator's decision," PSEA official Mark McDade said.
The teachers have been working without a contract for three years.
The teachers say their main complaint is their low starting rate, which they say is lower than most school districts in this area.
"It's completely unacceptable that professional teachers qualify for public assistance. These are the very same teachers that teach children to strive to be their best," McDade said.
Even so, many parents do not agree with the teachers going on strike.
"I just wish they'd come to an agreement already so my kids could go back to school. They are in need of an education and it's getting to be ridiculous," Ashley Kirby said.
Janieann Sanders has a seventh grader who is autistic.
"Does not do well with change at all. Then taking his summer away he's going to be really upset," Janieann Sanders said.
Last September's strike in Shamokin Area lasted 12 school days. The Pennsylvania Department of Education said this strike must end by February 4 and the teachers would have to return to classrooms by February 5.