Buffalo teachers will set up informational pickets outside city schools this week to protest the lack of a contract with the school district.
Teachers will engage in picketing for a half-hour before their scheduled start times on Tuesday and Wednesday. But Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore says they won't interfere with the actual first day of school for students on Thursday.
Rumore says it's all about demonstrating teacher solidarity.
"It's been ten years without a contract," Rumore said. "Our class sizes are too high. We don't have enough supplies. Something has to be done, and it has to be done now."
Rumore said teachers also plan to picket outside City Hall before Board of Education meetings.
A fact-finder for the state's Public Employment Relations Board is expected to issue his non-binding recommendations for settling the contract dispute by the end of September.