The strike started Thursday on what was scheduled to be the first day of school for nearly 18,000 students, and no classes were held on Friday.

About 1,100 teachers are picketing over the issues of pay, workload and health care benefits.

One teacher said that one of the the main issues in negotiations with the district has been after-hours work.

“Last year I counted 1,022 hours of overtime. I was paid for 70 of them. When I divided how many hours I worked into how much I was paid, it came out to less than $5 an hour,” said teacher Tonya Stevens-Chelius.

Stevens-Chelius said class size was another issue. She said she teaches English Language Learning to kindergarten through sixth-graders and that she should be responsible for 40 students but has 127.

The district and teachers' union reached an impasse on Aug. 3 and are now working with a mediator.

The district said it's limited by state funding.

Superintendent Tom Siegel said the district's latest proposal was a two-year contract with pay hikes of 6.5 percent and 6.9 percent, including state cost-of-living allowances of 4.3 percent and 3.5 percent.

A district spokesman said that depending on any progress that’s made this weekend, they will decide on Monday whether classes will be held on Tuesday.

The strike is the first ever for the district.