Earning Their Keep
The premier of Ontario has high respect for those in the teaching profession. It comes naturally to him, since his father was a professor, and Dalton Jr.'s wife an elementary school teacher. And Premier McGuinty likes to keep unions on board, so he favours them when contracts come up. Naturally enough, unions, particularly teachers' unions, return the favour by voting for a government that has supported them right handsomely in the past.
And will do so into the future as long as the Liberals are re-elected to further plague Ontario taxpayers by their free-handed doling out of tax funds to programs that go plop and unionists that say 'more!' It's been reported that teachers in the province plan to make themselves available to assist in the upcoming campaign for the fall provincial election. To do so, they plan to ask that they receive temporary release from duties.
Which means, of course, they will still draw their salaries, but be exempt, if their plans proceed, from actually working on staff at their local school boards. President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation Ottawa district explained that while the union remains undecided whom to endorse, it can be assumed that chosen candidates will not be Conservative.
"I mean, our working conditions, as a result of the initiatives that the Liberals have taken, are considerably better than when they were under the Harris regime. And certainly people who have been in the education business for any length of time have an appreciation for what the two things look like. One is definitely better than the other." A convincing enough argument, but short on details.
But here are some defining details; eight years of Liberal governance have given rise to a 24.5% increase in teachers' salaries. Bearing in mind that eight years ago and earlier, teachers' salaries were downright munificent compared to other professional work streams. And the gold-plated benefits; off on the summer months, professional development days, defined pension benefits, generous sick days and etcetera.
At the present time a teacher with ten years of experience earns $94,650 in the current year, with department heads bringing in an additional $5,853, and those with a postgraduate degree honoured with an additional $620 to $1,238 annually. Yes, it's a difficult, demanding job. Yes, a good teacher earns his/her salary.
But how many in the profession are truly effective at communicating with their pupils and enthusing and stimulating them to learn? The answer to that ticklish question is far too few.
Cooler heads may prevail and the provincial Liberals may have to make do with the sincere appreciation of the province's teachers, without their actual presence during the campaign. Loyalty to Premier McGuinty leading to abandoning the classroom for the drudgery of the campaign trail may be stifled before it's launched since the school boards don't seem to support the unions to allow teachers to absent themselves.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association is going another step further, announcing a $60 levy in the interests of funding a political action campaign in the interests of electing Liberals and defeating Conservative candidates. "They said the money was going to lobby for issues for teachers in the upcoming election. But I think ostensibly that means to lobby against the Conservatives", according to a civics and history teacher at an Ottawa High School.
Who points out how unfair he thinks it is that the union "is using my money to demonize someone who's legitimately trying to better Ontario" - that would be Conservative leader Tim Hudak who also comes from a family of teachers. Not that it seems in fact that the Conservatives, were they to come to power, would govern too much differently than the Liberals have.
And will do so into the future as long as the Liberals are re-elected to further plague Ontario taxpayers by their free-handed doling out of tax funds to programs that go plop and unionists that say 'more!' It's been reported that teachers in the province plan to make themselves available to assist in the upcoming campaign for the fall provincial election. To do so, they plan to ask that they receive temporary release from duties.
Which means, of course, they will still draw their salaries, but be exempt, if their plans proceed, from actually working on staff at their local school boards. President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation Ottawa district explained that while the union remains undecided whom to endorse, it can be assumed that chosen candidates will not be Conservative.
"I mean, our working conditions, as a result of the initiatives that the Liberals have taken, are considerably better than when they were under the Harris regime. And certainly people who have been in the education business for any length of time have an appreciation for what the two things look like. One is definitely better than the other." A convincing enough argument, but short on details.
But here are some defining details; eight years of Liberal governance have given rise to a 24.5% increase in teachers' salaries. Bearing in mind that eight years ago and earlier, teachers' salaries were downright munificent compared to other professional work streams. And the gold-plated benefits; off on the summer months, professional development days, defined pension benefits, generous sick days and etcetera.
At the present time a teacher with ten years of experience earns $94,650 in the current year, with department heads bringing in an additional $5,853, and those with a postgraduate degree honoured with an additional $620 to $1,238 annually. Yes, it's a difficult, demanding job. Yes, a good teacher earns his/her salary.
But how many in the profession are truly effective at communicating with their pupils and enthusing and stimulating them to learn? The answer to that ticklish question is far too few.
Cooler heads may prevail and the provincial Liberals may have to make do with the sincere appreciation of the province's teachers, without their actual presence during the campaign. Loyalty to Premier McGuinty leading to abandoning the classroom for the drudgery of the campaign trail may be stifled before it's launched since the school boards don't seem to support the unions to allow teachers to absent themselves.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association is going another step further, announcing a $60 levy in the interests of funding a political action campaign in the interests of electing Liberals and defeating Conservative candidates. "They said the money was going to lobby for issues for teachers in the upcoming election. But I think ostensibly that means to lobby against the Conservatives", according to a civics and history teacher at an Ottawa High School.
Who points out how unfair he thinks it is that the union "is using my money to demonize someone who's legitimately trying to better Ontario" - that would be Conservative leader Tim Hudak who also comes from a family of teachers. Not that it seems in fact that the Conservatives, were they to come to power, would govern too much differently than the Liberals have.
posted by Pieface @ 5:56 PM
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