School boards have no control over teacher salaries?

There was an article over the weekend in the Reading Eagle showing how the 18 school districts in Berks County rank in overall tax rates.

Buried deep in the story was a comment by a school board member that caught my attention.

Exeter School Board member J. Ken Hart told the newspaper that school boards have costs they can't control such as teachers' salaries and special-education costs.

"School boards are being blamed for a lot of things," Hart told the newspaper. "The blame should fall on the state."

School boards have no control over teacher salaries?

Does that mean that teachers' unions tie up school board members and put a gun to their heads forcing them to agree to salary demands?

It's the state's fault that local school boards raise property taxes by two or three times the rate of inflation?

Pennsylvania continues to lead the nation in teacher strikes, but I didn't know that school boards were so impotent when it comes to controlling salaries of their employees.

If I lived in the Exeter School District, I'd want Mr. Hart to elaborate on his inability to control teacher salaries.

Why do we need school boards if they can't control costs?

Read the full article here.