Facing $200 a day in court-ordered fines, teachers in the Kent School District chose to return to work . This story offers some details. For more as events unfold - such as exactly what is in the contract that teachers and district administrators are now heralding as the best thing since sliced bread - check out the teachers union blog. On the district's website, the latest contract proposal can be found. Hopefully they'll post the final contract soon.

Interesting casualty of the strike may be some members of the School Board.

During the strike, parents desperate for information were angered when the board cancelled its Sept. 9th meeting. A group calling itself the Kent Parents Coalition launched on Facebook a petition to recall the elected board.

What shouldn't get lost in the aftermath of an emotional strike is the class size debate. The union had wanted reduced class sizes, citing extremely large classes in critical subjects such as math and Language Arts. District officials argued it would cost nearly $3 million to lower class sizes in Kent schools by a single student. Prevailing wisdom among educators is that class sizes must be dramatically reduced - say from 30 students to 18 or so - before it begins to make a difference academically. Even then, teacher quality is the missing link. Small classes led by not so good teachers will yield the same dismal results as overcrowded classes.