Recently, I believe during the 2004-2005 school year, there was a
dispute between the teachers employed by the Springfield,
Massachusetts Public Schools ("SPS") and the SPS
Administration.  Approximately 300 teachers left the SPS as a result
of this dispute, which I believe had to do with pay and working
conditions.  As a result of this dispute, SPS offered a "signing
bonus" to teachers who were hired to teach during the upcoming school
year.  Please provide some brief background about this dispute: Who
were the key players?  What were the arguments put forth by both
sides?  Why did the SPS decide to go with a "signing bonus" approach
rather than offering the teachers more money?