Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and government representatives are putting their heads together to try to hammer out a collective agreement and avoid disruptive teacher job action. Taxpayers remain in the dark as these discussions are held behind closed doors.

There are few things more disruptive than a teacher strike. School closures mean working parents of young children are left scrambling for daycare -- whether they can afford it or not - and summer plans are endangered by a possible extended school year. The hardest hit are 12th grade students who need to get their hands on diploma marks before they can be accepted to college or university.

At issue is whether a salary increase beyond the government-mandated 0-1-1 is affordable and justified.

The minimum starting wage for a teacher with four years of post-secondary education is $38,700 - which ranks second among the provinces behind Alberta, which comes in at $43,653. The average maximum salary for the same teacher is $59,500 in Saskatchewan, which puts us third behind Alberta ($68,967) and Ontario ($62,625).

While salaries are an important indicator, they can't be viewed in isolation from other factors that impact how far a dollar goes in different provinces. When you factor in the cost of living, Saskatchewan teachers fare even better.

According to a comparison conducted by the Manitoba government, Saskatchewan residents in a single-income $40,000 a year family have the third-lowest cost of living in Canada. For a single-income $60,000 a year family (the higher end of Saskatchewan teacher salaries), our cost of living is hands-down the country's cheapest.

When you consider our relatively low cost of living, it gets even harder to buy the union argument that we risk losing teachers to other jurisdictions if don't pony up the dough. On the contrary, our salaries are surprisingly competitive with other jurisdictions.

Further, teacher salaries dictate the level of property taxes we pay. Between 65 and 75 per cent of school board spending goes directly to teacher salaries and benefits. Taxpayers feel every percentage point increase in teacher salaries in their wallet.

Learning Minister Andrew Thomson met a flurry of protest when he linked teacher salaries to property taxes, but the truth is that this is a perfectly legitimate observation. We cannot look at salaries without considering their impact on property taxpayers. As it stands, our school taxes are the highest in Canada. The province is providing $110 million in school tax rebates over the next two years, but it certainly won't take much of a salary increase for mill rate hikes to erase the rebate.

With our teachers among the highest paid in Canada and enjoying one of the lowest costs-of-living, the union must make a very strong case for wage increases, especially at a time when the province is forecasting yet another deficit this year and supposedly can't afford to repeal last year's PST increase.

There might be a strong case for a raise for teachers, but it's tough to find one when you compare Saskatchewan rates to those in other provinces. Taxpayers deserve to have an honest public debate on teacher salaries. Salary negotiations are currently happening behind closed doors and taxpayers want in.