Can a best offer be good enough?

Not yet. Not for Rapid City area teachers.

Last week, members of the Rapid City Education Association voted to reject the school district's recent best offer at teacher contract negations.

The sticking point is teacher salary, specifically if it should be increased or what incentives should be provided. Details aren't available - they never are for contract negotiations - but we can assume the association is asking for more than the district is offering which, we can assume again, is very little to nothing.

Teachers in the Rapid City School District deserve a pay raise this year, but they shouldn't expect one.

The school district is struggling with budget numbers. It's trying to rebuild its general fund balance to 12 percent. That would poise the district better for future growth and was recommended by the Citizen's Finance Review Committee.

Fair enough. That's good planning by the district but rebuilding its own mismanaged budget reserves shouldn't be accomplished on the backs of district employees.

Unfortunately for teachers - very, very few people are seeing more income this year. The district itself has not granted raises to any group yet that has a signed contract and many private sector employees have not only seen pay freezes but cuts and time off without pay.

Sadly, these exceptional times have opened the door for unfortunate measures and the American workers are taking the brunt of it - teachers included.

Still, a year ago, we watched as the school board proposed deep cuts to programs that would have a direct impact on students - gifted programs, music etc. It worried us then just as withholding decent pay for teachers worries us now.

Teachers still provide the backbone of a student's education. A good teacher means success; a bad one? Well, there's often not such a bright outcome for the student.

Last year, the teachers received a 0.5 percent base salary increase and a step on the salary scale. That was minimal to say the least. It's not much; it won't attract new talent or keep the talent already in the district firmly planted.

The school board can hold tight to the purse strings this year, but to make cautious budgeting an annual event will be a detriment to our school system and the most important thing in it - our children - and it will set us on a long-term course that's difficult to reverse.