Not necessarily. After the last work to rule - our parents took over the graduation celebration etc... so yes - the school can do the ceremony (which they are required to do) but our graduation is handled off site - all done by funding from fundraising and our parent council if need be. We also had parents do the Gr. 8 trip etc... End of year trips - if they are during school hours - I do not see why they would be cancelled?
*~* The point isn't whether they lived happily ever after, the point is that they lived*~
Do we know what the strike is for, or what the disagreements are?
At this point, it's my understanding from reading that the main issues are class sizes increasing, prep time decreasing, how schools are staffed, and the fact that the negotiations with the province haven't even really started yet. It's NOT about wages. From what I've read, none of the groups expect an increase in this contract - but they don't expect a cut either like they had in the last contract.
The province changed the rules about a year ago and now there are two layers of negotiating ... one with the local boards for working conditions (prep time/school staffing) and central negotiations with the province (class sizes, wages and the things that cost the big money). Each union (secondary and elementary and catholic) negotiating seems to have their own specific needs but overall these are the main issues that seem to be highlighted in media reports and union bulletins.
I personally feel for the local boards who seem to have their hands tied because they don't know their budgets yet or what the province is going to do with the class size/funding issues and I'm guessing it's pretty hard for them to try and negotiate a deal without knowing the big details. I feel for the teacher unions who have been trying to negotiate for over a year now in a chaotic environment where the rules keep changing. In my opinion, the province is trying to keep its hands clean by making the boards look like the bad guys while delaying their own negotiating and the unions look bad by staying silent on the reality that class sizes are going up quite a bit and prep time is going down which leads to more kids getting lost in a large fit the box bureaucratic system. My kindergarten neighbour teacher will START with 28 kids in her class this September and that number is likely to rise ... so about twice as big as what's considered the max for the same aged kids in a daycare.
The province is broke and needs to save/find money. They appear to be doing that by taking directly from the classroom instead of looking at all of the non-classroom surplus excess stuff in the school system.
In my opinion.
I completely agree with strongmommy. The talks that have happened for 9 months have nothing to do with wages or pay. They are demanding no class caps, which if you think of how big classes used to be there were up to 30 primary students in a classroom and I heard of up to 40 in Junior (there could have been bigger numbers I just didn't hear about them, as I didn't truly notice until 10 years ago).
If this happens that could be about 20% of primary/juionr teachers let go. This means ALL those famlies in their 30's will drop down to occasional teaching and a huge income loss. This means all those Occasional teachers in their 20's and 30's will have to be let go. (losing jobs is based on seniority, so most of those people will be those with young families).
Another big deal is that they want ECE's to perform other non-classroom duties around the school, for up to 1.5 hours a day. This means our youngest children (mine starting JK) will be in a classroom with an average of 26-32 students and only 1 adult. Most parents have been saying that FDK should be smaller than 32 with 2 educators, but the governments response is less supervision.
I completely get paying off debt, I always hated debt and in my teens knew I would save up enough money by 25 to purchase my own house outright and not be in debt (a small one in a not as nice area - about $80,000 in Windsor so it was a plausible belief). Then I grew up and started with a 35 year mortgage. When mat.leave ended and things slowly got better, and the interest rate went down I now have 17 years left (so 22 total). I realize that I can't do home improvements and ADD to my mortgage, and my mom thinks taking longer to pay off the mortgage and putting more into my family is a good idea. 2 years ago I was spending $40 a week on groceries and we were hungry but if I did this I could put a lot more on my mortgage and I could make my kids wear their old (too small) clothes and we could even sell our TV and many items in my house that are not "necessities".
But, my belief is that being in debt isn't that bad as long as you are not adding to it and are decreasing it. I dont think Ontario should plan to pay off the debt in 35 years, but I think decreasing the education my youngest son can get will greatly affect him and his future and is not worth it just to pay off debt in 2-3 years. I think a compromise of paying off the debt in 6 or 10 years while making small cuts and not increasing it would work better than drastic cuts (especially because those cuts won't be only for the 2-3 years).
And Ingalls - I am so sorry that your school doesn't have any extras
Also, any end of year trips that are already planned (and likely paid for) would still happen. My son is going on a trip costing $53, so we paid back in January and the teachers paid for it already, so to cancel the trip would mean that money would be gone - so logistically it has to happen (and it is outside of school hours till 6pm).
Also, if there is a full out strike I will likely charge $25 per day for school-aged children to hang out at my house and go to the park, maybe some inquiry-based learning.
Last edited by melissawilliam; 05-06-2015 at 08:32 AM.
As much as I'm freaking out about trying to find and afford childcare for 3 kids, I support the teachers in this matter. My son is in a class of 27 grade 4 students and I think he has suffered for it as he's a quiet kid. We need caps on classroom sizes and last year my 5 year old was in jk and the class was 27 with 1 teacher and 1 ECE, I can't imagine not even having that ECE for part of the day, I think they need more support not less.
I feel like there are other places they could take the money from, we won't go into politicians salaries since I've never heard of a cut there, but was about firefighters and police? Do I think they deserve a good salary, I certainly do, but 6 figures seems high specially when you work 48 hours out of the week. Not that that's the only place they could trim from, but it seems taking money from the system that is to educate our children, you know, the people who will run this country in years to come, is very very short sighted.
Mommy to three adorable kids!
Notice I got last night said if work to rule goes ahead - there will be a small ceremony during school hours and no dance/dinner that these classes have been planning and fundraising for since the start of grade 7. End of year trip to Quebec will be also cancelled and only a partial refund will be made.Originally Posted by M2M
The parents at our school are the ones planning/supervising the grade 8 grad. There is nothing new there. the grade 7 parents do the planning and supervising so when we have a grade 8 graduating we get to sit back and enjoy it. It's how it's been done at our school for years long before the work to rule. Since then though it has been the parents who have been doing the grade 8 trip. If they don't organize it doesn't happen.
I support our teachers don't get me to wrong. Our school has been great at getting activities up and running since the last work to rule. We have one in particular who does 3-4 throughout the year himself. I am just really disappointed that it's our kids who suffer in all this. Year end trips likely will be cancelled, no comments on report cards, no EQAO ( which I'm sure most won't care about anyway) I just find it really frustrating.
My 7th grader already has a really crap teacher who as all but ruined the year for the entire class already and I would just hate for it to be further jeopradized by more unrest.
Your life is a result of the choices you make, if you don't like your life it's time to start making better choices.
This is why parents need to stand up and start protesting. IMO, no matter what teachers do the government isn't going to listen. Right now we have parents and other adults complaining about those greedy, lazy teachers striking so they can get a pay raise when the province is in debt. THIS is what the government wants everyone to believe, which takes away support from parents/community.
Having every single parent with a child from birth to grade 6 stand up and say they will NOT tolerate an increase in class size is what is needed to help prevent this huge dis-service to our children.
So I just wrote the following to my MPP
I am writing to inquire as to your position in regards to the possible Teachers Union strike/action. As a parent of three school aged children the possibility of a strike worries me enormously. However, as a parent I have to say I side with the teachers on the issues at hand.
My understanding is that one of the main points of contention is that the province wishes to remove classroom size caps. I vehemently disagree with this idea. My soon to be 10 year old son is in a classroom of 27 children. He has struggled in this grade and I feel a large part of this struggle is due to the lack of attention from the teacher as she has a large class to take care of.
I understand there is a budget to balance but I think the Province needs to look closer at other options for trimming the budget. These children are our future leaders, we need to ensure they receive a good education and truthfully over the years our education system has had so many budget cuts that it is in jeopardy of failing all together. We need smaller classroom sizes and more assistance for teachers and students, not less.
Can you imagine the improvement in our children's futures if we improve their education? Not all children learn the same way or at the same rate and to allow these children to fail to thrive due to "budget cuts" is a huge disservice to our children, ourselves and our country.
I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider interceding on behalf of the teachers union, or at least being a voice of reason and consideration for our children.
Mommy to three adorable kids!
Field trips and extra-curriculars will not be affected at this point in time. Report cards will only have 1 sentence for kindergarten, and a grade for older grades.
So lame
Mom to DS - 9.5 years old
AND
Id rather have on pernament record a report on my childs growth and development than extra circ parents could look at taking over
Mom to DS - 9.5 years old
AND
I don't understand why report card comments would be withheld?
According to the email I received from my kids teachers (Grade School - haven't heard from the High School)- if work to rule happens all field trips will be cancelled and the music performances my middle DS has, as well. Also noted that some trips that have already been paid for will only be getting partial refunds.
I'm not trying to fan the flames here, but just wondering what some of you think of this article I saw from last year.
Ontario Liberals made $468-million in concessions to teachers: auditor - The Globe and Mail
Also, are the current issues to do with the school board or the government?
Posting Permissions
12Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
