Possible teachers strike

[PicklePig]

Basic report cards are presumably to annoy the parents, which would then force them to understand why the job action is going on in the first place. That makes some kind of sense.

I'm horrified by the removal of the class caps, and I too feel my daughter has been short-changed this year in a large class where she seems to sink into the background. (My hope was for an improvement next year!) And the only thing that saved the situation at all was the fact there were two adults in the kindergarten class, and that is also under threat.

[Ingalls]

wow, ok as much as I don't think our school is the best, I have to say I've never heard of such huge class sizes here. I don't even know if I'd keep my child in a classroom with over 25 students and just one teacher and ECE let alone taking out those supports!

I figure the teachers know what they're doing as far as if it's worth striking. Nobody likes the crappy strike pay, or having to explain themself over and over to passersby or the media, or having to arrange childcare, or having to hear parents' gripe, or having to picket at all! I doubt they'd do it unless there's a damn good reason.
The uncapping of class sizes is ridiculous. If that's a real proposal, I'd back up the teachers for sure.
Also I don't know exactly what the non-teachers are responsible for? Can anyone explain their duties to me? Are there people like that in every class? Because my kids
have only ever mentioned anyone other than the teacher if it is either a student teacher (high school or university), or someone there as support for a child with special needs. (Not saying that isn't a valid need, I just wonder if they do other stuff, too, and if so, what?)

I've had some disappointing teachers to deal with this year. From ones who seem like they're constantly picking at my dd and never let up, to one that I thought
was awesome!!! until I found out that she just never bothered to inform me of any issues he was having and i'm hearing just now that his grades are super low. Hard for a parent to know when nobody answers the agenda notes, and the only work I really see is his homework, which we work through and he totally understands.
BUT, I think over all, their jobs are so hard. It isn't just get up and say "Read chapters one to three and write a summary."
They have to teach them everything from how to summarize, to how to write, to how to use punctuation, to how to organize thoughts, proofread, etc.

They have to deal with kids who are tired, hungry, unprepared, depressed, anxious, or whatever else. Kids who don't want to be there, or don't care, or
are bored or shy or can't sit still or can't keep up or are so far ahead they act out out of boredom.
They get to deal with attitudes, kids trying to look cool and impress friends by being mouthy or 'funny'. They get to deal with the kids fed up with snow or rain or
too hot since far as I know, schools don't have a/c (or is that just ours?).
Like really, I wouldn't want to do it! I can't stand other people's kids half the time lol let alone daily, and having to pretend i like them and deal with them as a group
and individually
So pay them well. Give them reasonable working conditions like classes where they're small enough they can actually do their job and feel like they've done it well,
support so they can make sure the kid who can't learn the same way is being taught how he can learn, breaks so they don't lose their shit and scream at our kids
because face it, it's ok if we yell at our kids but nobody wants to hear that a teacher lost it on their kid....

Sorry for the rant. lol I just never get the whole idea of teachers ahving it easy
and I think the idea of such huge classes is bullshit.

[M2M]

any one who has to deal with N for more than an hour, isnt being paid enough in my opinion (and I know its not a money thing lol) Him alone is a full time job, not to mention 30 other students on top of that.

Ms class has 34, and he has completely faded into the background

[one ordinary girl]

When you say non teachers are you referring to the EA's? I think their duties vary depending on why they are in the classroom. My dd has one full time in her room but she's there for one specific child. I don't believe she works with any of the other kids. we have lots of very high needs kids in our school and many of them could certainly use full time supports and they just aren't available to them. Many of the teachers have a full time job just trying to keep them in line.

as for other things that some of the EA's might do ( at least this holds true for our school) they might read with a child or group of them who are struggling or just as a reward to go with that specific person and read to them. they might take a child out of a room who is acting disruptive and take him/her for a walk for a change of pace.

[one ordinary girl]

any one who has to deal with N for more than an hour, isnt being paid enough in my opinion (and I know its not a money thing lol) Him alone is a full time job, not to mention 30 other students on top of that.

Ms class has 34, and he has completely faded into the background

what?! that would be way over the cap. dd in grade 2 has 22 kids I believe cap is 23? DD in 7th has 27 kids I don't know what the cap is for that. I do know that we have lots of 3/4 splits so that cap is higher due to it being considered a junior class instead of a primary class. I want to say 28 is the cap for junior. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My numbers might be off for primary as well.

[M2M]

They are in the works of adding a 3rd grade 4 class, but unfortunately, its just about finding the space at the moment.

[strongmommy]

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.

gogomom - that sucks but pretty sure it's not a board wide issue as our school has made it clear all field trips and current extras go on ...... highschool is NOT on any type of work to rule or pullbacks. If something is happening at the ones your kids are at it would be because of the individual teachers making an individual decision.

[melissawilliam]

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?

I haven't read whole article, but just looked to see the timeline of what it would be.

This doesn't mean they gave education that much more money. What it means is that they CUT a ton, including a 2% pay cut. I think this was given back a bit by giving teachers 2 days pay who didn't use more than a couple sick days (just a 1 year thing, not continual thing) - which was needed since most teachers who don't use sick days planned to use them all (for legit reasons) due to the loss of reasons not to, and the poor treatment.

Also, the contract was for 2 years, so think about how much would have been deducted from teachers, and schools and everywhere, the 2nd year still remained a pay freeze - which is viewed as a raise by some (started at 100%, went to 98% for year 1, gained some back, and 100% year 2, not a raise but just back to where they had started). They also gave back things they had taken from people retiring in less than 5 years that they had planned on - and meant they couldn't retire as early.
They also dropped sick days about 75% and then ended up changing that to 50% (I think). So, they still LOST sick days, just not as many, but the government is viewing that as a concession.

A lot of this was "potential" money and not real money - but they wanted to look good in the article Teachers were allowed to bank their sick days (like most public employees), but 99% lost them upon retirement. BUT if the teacher had cancer or another series issue they had these to fall back on and would use all of them. The average teacher may use some during their lifetime, but most would never be used. The government is counting EVERY DAY as money they gave back, when they reinstated (grandfathered in) the days teachers had chosen to save for the future, even though most of those will never be used (so potential not real money).

Basically, they cut a TON and gave back a BIT, much of it a safety cushion that most would never use.

(4 year old threw up again - be back later!!!)

[melissawilliam]

what?! that would be way over the cap. dd in grade 2 has 22 kids I believe cap is 23? DD in 7th has 27 kids I don't know what the cap is for that. I do know that we have lots of 3/4 splits so that cap is higher due to it being considered a junior class instead of a primary class. I want to say 28 is the cap for junior. Please correct me if I'm wrong. My numbers might be off for primary as well.

Primary has a soft cap of 20, and a hard cap of 23 (max. 10% of primary classes in the board can have over 20) - although this time of year they can go higher if children move into the school.

Kindergarten is no longer Primary and doesn't really have a cap, but max seems to be 32, with the average being 26-32 in the class with 2 educators.
I am not really sure what the junior cap is, but have seen 30-32 in those grades.

Ingalls - Bigger classes sizes is not a proposal but a demand that they refuse to even remove from the table
other people in the school besides teachers are usually an EA - educational assistant who is usually assigned to 1 or 2 students, but can be assigned to float between a few students. A student with ASD who needs an individualized day and becomes violent or out of control and needs to be removed at times for quiet/alone time needs their own EA.
LST are teachers who have moved from teaching in the class to assisting small groups of students in an office for short periods, or helping them in the classroom - can be any special needs, or unidentified at all, even gifted.

CYW - child youth workers are in some schools. Speech Pathologists have a few schools they work at and often circulate between the kindergarten and primary classes of those schools. There can also be other board level teachers who go to schools to teach the teachers when they choose or if a teacher asks for help in a certain area.

There are also ECE's these are in every kindergarten class (unless there are less than 15 students in that class, or less than 10 SKs in an SK/1). They are educated with birth-6 and bring a different perspective to teaching this age group, and are considered as 2 educators in the classroom and should be considered equals during teaching hours (duties are different outside of the classroom hours, with teachers having planning and report cards, etc - although ECEs try to be involved in these also they do not have to).

I know there are many other people that I am not even thing of.