Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
It is hard to ignore the escalating tension between the various teacher’s unions in Ontario and the Provincial Government.
Inexorably, one of these days it is going to come to a head, and I for one am not looking forward to that. I am somewhat surprised at how polarized the discussions are becoming about who is right and who is wrong. Judging primarily by social media, it seems that one cannot support teachers and their issues without also attacking the government and if one dares to support the government, by definition, they must be against the teachers. I do not see it that way.
I have nothing but the highest respect for people who choose teaching as their profession. It is a tough job, tougher now than it used to be, because populism brings with it so-called political correctness.
Students have “rights” and a teacher must tread ever so lightly in not crossing that threshold, be it teaching methods or discipline. They invite deep doo-doo if they do! Kids can talk back to their teachers, often in vulgar terms, and according to one very dedicated teacher I know, there is little that can be done about it because current discipline options are so restrictive and ineffective.
A good teacher requires the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon. They are educators, arbitrators and social workers. Most are highly dedicated and very good at what they do. Teaching is a high calling and an awesome responsibility. Those who perform to these standards are entitled to be treated well and to stand up for themselves and the principles they believe in.
But government has a job to do as well. They need to act in the best interest of all the people in Ontario and sometimes that means making hard decisions about how taxpayers’ money is spent and recognizing that government cannot be all things to all people. Teachers have very strong unions, some of the strongest in North America, to look out for their interests. I do not begrudge them that, but the counterbalance is the Provincial Government. They should not be vilified for doing their job in balancing the many demands on the public purse and protecting the interests of all Ontarians who, after all, are the ones footing the bill.
It is hard for me to gauge how much sympathy teachers are getting from the general public related to the recent rotating strikes mandated by their unions. The average annual income in Muskoka is $42,900. An entry level job here averages an annual income of $25,399. I imagine it is difficult for many of these people to empathize with teachers who, with experience, average salaries of between eighty and ninety thousand dollars annually, have excellent health and retirement benefits, and are in the classroom about nine months a year. I am not saying they do not deserve it. I am saying it’s a hard sell.
I am also surprised at the criticism the Ford Government is getting for providing up to $60 a day for day-care for those that need it because of the rotating teacher strikes. Some people call it a bribe to parents. I see it as the government doing their job: helping the vulnerable during a difficult situation. I am sure most teachers would welcome parents of their more needy students getting that kind of assistance.
One area of our education sector which, in my view, is terribly neglected in terms of income is educational assistants. In many cases, they make less than half of what teachers make with much poorer benefits and vacation entitlements. Yet, they are very much on the front line. They usually take care of the “hard cases”—students with more difficulties, or who act out, or need more attention. Most teachers who have an EA swear by them because they make their jobs easier. EAs bear much of the emotional brunt of the classroom and much of that they unavoidably take home with them. In their own way, they too are educators and not servants. These people are treated very badly, and it is high time someone did something about it.
I wonder if it is not also time to pass legislation making teaching an essential service like policing and firefighting. That would take away the teachers’ right to strike but would put issues that are important to them in the hands of independent arbitrators and not government or unions. A study of settlements for other essential services would show that teachers would not be at a disadvantage as an essential service.
Strikes are divisive and can become nasty. I know I was disturbed this week seeing pictures on social media of very young children sporting anti-government signs and even here in Huntsville, at one school, seeing youngsters on the picket line. That is not right and actions such as these whether by teachers or government leave a bad taste in people’s mouths for years to come. That does not bode well for the education of our children.
I do not believe there is a villain here. The teachers are doing what they have to do and so is the government. The blame game gets us nowhere. If the escalation continues it will inevitably end in a full-scale strike and back-to-work legislation. There will be no winners, only losers, primarily students and working parents. Surely, we have reached the point where unconditional, binding arbitration is the best route forward. Let’s stop these interruptions in our kids’ education and get everyone back to school where they are needed and belong.
Students deserve no less.
Hugh Mackenzie
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I agree with Hugh. My Best Buddy Peter Ferguson was a much respected teacher and was well known in Town. He often said that teachers were very overpaid. and they knew it. The general feeling is/was that if they stopped pushing the envelope at negotiation time they would start going downhill in wages and benefits.
We often agreed with each other that the Teachers in Toronto were responsible for the fortunes of the Provincial Government at election time.
We also agreed that the foul mouthed student presented a challenge to the teacher. But there was several ways around that. Learn to understand why the bad stuff was coming out, and explain to the student that it made the teacher’s job that much harder, why not work with them instead of tolerating them.
He also agreed the Administrators (used to be called Inspectors in my day) were the fat cats of the system at 150 K per year. – and they knew it! I say legislate these ones who are striking ‘for the kids’, back to work and get this selfish crazy Union back labelled as an essential service! Yes, the T.A’s are treated shabbily at half the teacher’s wages and should be given a massive increase immediately. Class size? Used to be a whole lot more kids in my class in the mid 40’s and we respected our teachers (strap was the persuader). But a move like this would be opposed by the Union chiefs as they would lose their cushy jobs.
Hi Rob, governments can and do use economic hardship to as a reason to enact back to work legislation. Although there are alternative delivery options, those options cost more than Canada Post. Therefore if Amazon, Best Buy, etc. incur huge costs for delivery of products, then back to work legislation is used. Unfair but true. Check out the longest filibuster in Canadian parliament by the NDP and Jack Layton, to stop the back to work legislation imposed by the Conservative government in 2011 on postal workers. The workers received a bonus “kick in the ass” by imposing a wage increase less than what was offered in the first place. The workers were also locked out of their workplace after a series of rotating strikes.
Obviously, I have always had a misunderstanding with respect to back-to-work legislation: I thought that it only applied to “essential services”. According to this article, that isn’t the case; so how do governments determine who is a candidate for this legislation?
By the way, I heard anecdotally that the cost of maintaining class sizes at a reasonable maximum was approximately $800 K/yr. The cost to drop the online course requirement is zero. Money well spent.
Ask any postal worker about arbitration. They’re waiting two years now, with another six months to go before there’s any chance of a raise. Some workers have waited and died, for a pay equity settlement. The federal government has delayed the arbitration that long, while forcing them back to work. We know the kinds of games the government plays and the only effective tool is to withdraw your labour. It’s time for all unions to support one another.
The struggle continues.
Ray Vowels each European country has only one prime minister. There are provinces in each European country, but none of these provinces have a prime minister (Premier), so it is easy for us Europeans to get lost in this particular system in Canada where each province has a prime minister (Premier) as if these provinces were independent countries.
I hope now you can guess who I wrote about in my commentary.
Waldi please tell us just who the prime minister of Ont is. I’ve never heard of him.
“Teachers. Though not all hit the $100,000 mark, teachers in Ontario have an average salary of $83,500, which puts them on par with the average lawyer in Ontario, according to Macleans Magazine who counted 88 teachers in Hamilton alone who make more than $100,000.”
Mr. Hugh Mackenzie, this text refers to your words.I hope you are well aware that this is a very illusory calculation that sums up the earnings of all teachers in Ontario, including academic and university teachers with earnings sometimes in excess of $300,000 per year.The Prime Minister of Ontario must focus on sealing the tax system and not punish poor people just for being poor.
Personally I think if students are as bad as some teachers say it’s time that both parents and teachers were allowed to use some force of discipline as it stands now a parent can’t even slap their child on the butt if it’s misbehaving or some bystander will call the cops if it happens to be in public or even if it’s in your own home if they see you. Our grandparent lived by the rule spare the rod spoil the child and most of the children survived and never turned out to be violent adults and if they didn’t behave in school there was hell to pay so they had respect for both parents and teachers. Not only that but they were allowed to fail if they could not do the work assigned to them in any grade they failed it was not a big deal so you learned to smarten up now they just push kids into the next grade no matter what no wonder they come out of high school not being able to read. I think teachers make enough money now and they say it’s not about the money that they are striking so get back to work or quit and get another job but good luck on finding one with the same benefits.
Yes it is very hard to sell and accept is it not?
Hugh I think you nailed it in the first few paragraphs. Students and their parents have way too much to involvement in how they should be taught. Students “rights” need to be scaled way back. Students need to shut up and listen and let teachers teach; and parents need to understand that their child is not gifted and probably deserves the marks they receive. Teachers should be allowed to discipline and suspend students and shape them for the real world a head.
99% of my employees are students (the best from HHS!) but my business couldn’t function if I had to walk on egg shells the way teachers do.
Right on Hugh!
It is hard for me to gauge how much sympathy teachers are getting from the general public related to the recent rotating strikes mandated by their unions. The average annual income in Muskoka is $42,900. An entry level job here averages an annual income of $25,399. I imagine it is difficult for many of these people to empathize with teachers who, with experience, average salaries of between eighty and ninety thousand dollars annually, have excellent health and retirement benefits, and are in the classroom about nine months a year. I am not saying they do not deserve it. I am saying it’s a hard sell.
Agree.
Mr. Hugh Mackenzie, the strikes and the independent trade unions behind them are a double-edged but effective sword.No arbitration committees will ever replace that.Trade unions are a proven instrument for putting pressure on the governing teams in the province or across the country.Teachers will never decide on the solution you propose.Mr. Ford won’t get much by implementing the law to force them back to work.The trade unions will quickly develop new forms of pressure on the government.No one has the right to make final, unquestionable decisions for someone.Mr. Ford must be aware of that.