It's debatable how long it should take for the teachers in Massapequa and the elected board of education to argue over the stipulations of a new contract. But one thing can be certain, the biggest casualty throughout this three year dispute will be the graduating Class of 1998.

These high school students first walked the halls of Massapequa High School when the dispute began. For the last three years they had to listen to many of their teachers complain about their expired contract and about how their parents should be paying more in taxes. They have had to sit in a class room with their educators wearing all black clothing decorated with colorful buttons blasting the board of education and decrying, "I won't forget."

It is the Class of 1998 who will forever remember their experience at Massapequa High School as being one of tension, argument, and despair. It's the class of 1998 that has been robbed of an enjoyably memorable high school experience.

This year's graduating class doesn't know what it's like to learn in a normal high school environment. They are the ones who suffered, and there is nothing that can change that.

For the Class of 1998, the contract dispute will be their strongest memory of high school. Not the senior prom, not the end of the year picnic, not the Senior Variety Show, and not Battle of the Classes. Students at the high school tell me that there is a great deal of animosity and regret on the side of the graduating class.

And the saddest part of all, they had absolutely nothing to do with the entire situation. The dispute was between five members of the board of education and the teachers of the school district.

I keep hearing talk that the kids won because of the settled contract, but is this really so? What about the loss of attention to the students throughout the negotiations process, throughout the pickets, and throughout the despair?

The Class of 1998 will be entering the real world in the next few months. Some will get jobs, and others will go on to college. I wish them the best of luck and I hope that they succeed, but at the same time I feel sorry for them.

The teachers will now get their retroactive pay, and the administration will now have the flexibility to assign teachers whereever they choose, but the graduating class's loss can never be replaced.

Through the entire time the students were screaming for normalcy and an end to their suffering. But the problem escalated for three years, as though their voices were never even heard.

Next time statements should be made outside the classroom and around the negotiating table. Because, for the Class of 1998, high school will forever be remembered as a time of argument and despair.