Editorial
Don't let state-teacher dispute kill contract

Hard as it might be to swallow, the state's teachers should give serious consideration to the latest offer from Gov. Ben Cayetano on their contract dispute.

Cayetano wants to strip off a disputed section from the rest of the contract and negotiate it separately.

That might make sense. While the disputed portion — involving bonuses for teachers with advanced or professional degrees — is important, it is not the sum total of this contract.

A letter from teacher union President Karen Ginoza outlines some of the other benefits and changes coming to teachers once a contract is reached.

These include salary increases, a retention bonus, early retirement incentives and others. None of these can happen until there is a contract.

It might make sense to sign off on all these and other contract matters while the fight over professional bonuses continues.

It seems clear that both the state and the teachers bear some responsibility for the sloppiness that allowed the professional bonus dispute to occur. That suggests a compromise on this issue will be the eventual outcome.

But while we wait for common sense and reason to work this issue out, let's get the rest of the contract signed, sealed and delivered so the teachers can get back to what they are supposed to be doing: educating our children.