Hermitage teachers were out in full force today, picketing at entrances to district schools on the first day of their strike for more money.

The walkout was called after talks between the school board and the Hermitage Education Association broke down Tuesday night over one issue: pay raises.

The sticking point -- a district offer of $1,600 a year as opposed to an HEA request for $2,700-a-year salary increases -- has kept the two sides from resolving the contract.

The pay raises include regular "step" increases teachers receive based on their years of service and level of education. [NOTE: Due to an editing mistake, the print version of this story incorrectly said the raises were in addition to service steps.]

Chief HEA negotiator Paul Estock, a sixth-grade teacher, said union members are willing to lower their request, but want the board to meet them part way. The school board wants to stick with its offer, and has refused an HEA offer of fact-finding, which would allow a neutral third party to investigate the numbers and come up with a settlement figure.

Estock said he is available to sit down with the board's negotiating committee any time if members want to resolve the strike as soon as possible.

Board President Duane Piccirilli said this morning that "the board is always willing to sit down and meet if the teachers are willing to sit down and talk best offer," but added that no meeting has been scheduled.

In the meantime, the teachers will continue to picket.

"We want to make a presence -- but safely," said Estock, referring to the road-widening project on state Route 18 in front of the middle and high schools.

The teachers can strike for up to 10 days according to Act 88, the state law that covers contract negotiations.

How long they will walk the picket lines still wasn't disclosed today, but -- according to a formula in Act 88 that governs how much school time lost to a strike must be made up and when -- the strike could last, at most, six or seven days.

The district has canceled classes during the strike but buses will run for students who take classes at Mercer County Career Center. Students will be picked up at home, said school Superintendent Karen Ionta wrote in a letter sent home to parents Wednesday.

Mrs. Ionta said the district will try to inform parents and students of strike developments through local and Youngstown media.

Special needs students who attend different schools and students who live in Hermitage and attend parochial or charter schools will also be picked up by Hermitage school buses, the letter said.

Though the teachers are picketing at each school's entrance, Estock made it clear that they would not block anyone, including administrative employees or construction workers, from entering the school grounds.

"We would certainly never stop anyone from going through it (the entrance)," Estock said Wednesday night. "We're there for informational purposes only. If anyone wants to come through, we'll just step aside."

"The association is willing to meet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We want to see a resolution," according to a statement by Marcus Schlegel, communications/organizing program specialist with the Pennsylvania State Education Association on behalf of the HEA.