Last modified: Sunday, August 27, 2006 1:51 AM EDT Now, then and in between: When city teachers struck Now: With a new superintendent, new school committee, several new key administrators and an overall fresh outlook, we're expecting to see at least a tad more enthusiasm in Attleboro schools when the new year commences on Sept. 6. Maybe that's optimistic, but a lot of things weigh in favor for a good start for Pia Durkin as superintendent. Chief among them: all school employee unions have contracts in place until next year. Then: Twenty years ago this week, on Sept. 2 , 1986, the lead headline was `` Teachers strike in Attleboro.'' School was supposed to open the following day. It wouldn't. Attleboro Education Association President Susan Strzesak declared the strike would continue until a new contract was reached. `` The strike is illegal,'' school committee member Michael Higgins countered, announcing the board would seek an injunction and a back-to-work order. An order to cease and desist from the strike was issued the following day by the state labor board. A day later, Superior Court Judge George Jacobs issued a back-to-work order. Both would be ignored. Negotiations aimed at opening classes for the city's 5,500 students continued through the weekend, when 17 hours of meetings were held with a state mediator on hand. Information given to the press had the teachers seeking 11.5 percent raises and the school board offering 4.5, but willing, it was said off the record, to go up to 6. A list of 23 other demands -- calling for smaller class sizes, newer textbooks and the like -- was also involved. But negotiations over health insurance emerged as the main issue in the contract breakdown. On the first day of the strike, 300 teachers had marched on City Hall and appealed to Mayor Kai Shang to intercede and settle the strike. It would turn out Shang had held out to decrease the city's share of health insurance coverage to 50 percent; the teachers were adamant to keep it at 75. Teachers would march on City Hall again the following Monday, the same day Jacobs hauled the union leaders back into Superior Court. His hearing continued into Tuesday. When it concluded, Jacobs was widely believed ready to send union leaders to jail the following day. But the headline Wednesday, Sept. 10, read `` Teachers OK 6 percent raises; first city classes Thursday.'' Overnight, an agreement -- which held the city's health insurance share to 75 percent -- had been reached on a two-year contract. Teachers union members accepted it at the South Attleboro Knights of Columbus Hall, then immediately filed to Attleboro High School for orientation. The strike was over. The school board ratified the contract that night. While we had run a few pictures of youngsters picketing for an end to the strike, the work stoppage was mostly a delight to local children. `` The kids think it's great,'' said Janice Minutoli, mother of a third grader. But as the year pressed on, however, that view would change. The last-day-of-school picture for the 1986-87 school year did not run until June 30. Making up the time lost to the six-day strike extended the school year nearly into July. In between: Negotiations between the teachers union and the school board have not always been pleasant. There have been instances when teachers worked-to-rule to protest contracts. But a repeat of the strike of 1986 has been avoided. We expect the record to remain intact, but a clear sign that a new attitude is in place for Attleboro schools would be to wrap up next year's contracts long, long before next Labor Day. NOW, THEN and In Between is written by Mark Flanagan, Opinion Page editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0335 or by e-mail to opinion@thesunchronicle.com.