School will be back in session Tuesday in Palmerton Area School District after teachers announced Monday they are suspending a strike.

"The Palmerton Area Education Association has notified the Palmerton Area School District it has suspended its strike and will be returning to the classroom on Tuesday," according to a statement from the association.While the strike has ended for now, teachers said if an agreement is not reached by May 29, the strike will resume at 12:01 a.m. on May 30."It is the hope that the association and district will be able to reach an agreement over the next four months so it is not necessary to involve and pay a third party outsider to solve what Palmerton people should solve," the association said in its statement.Teachers have been on strike since Jan. 9.The two entities last met Wednesday in a negotiating session that both sides said yielded no progress.Teachers would like to keep a salary schedule that the association said is used "in around 500 other districts in Pennsylvania."It includes increases of 3 percent, 4 percent, 4 percent and 5 percent to the total dollar figure of the contract over its four years.The district, meanwhile, offered to give every teacher a 3.25 percent increase each year and start new teachers at $50,000, around $7,000 more than they receive now.The PAEA contends its proposal would save taxpayers $5,000 over what the district is offering.Under the district's proposal, a seven-year Palmerton teacher would make the same as a new teacher, according to the association.District negotiator John Audi said the elimination of a $12,000 jump step for experienced teachers would help more evenly distribute money through the rest of the contract.