It’s an unsettling start to the new school year, with teachers in the English public system on the warpath against the Liberal government. There’s talk of court challenges against the government’s new teacher legislation, and rumblings are being heard that some angry teachers might withdraw voluntary extracurricular services – from club supervision to coaching and directing plays.
Locally, the president of the Upper Grand district of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has accused the Liberal government of bringing in legislation that’s worse than anything seen during the “dark days in education” of the Mike Harris government. Doug Cook said last week he’s comfortable making such a charge because of what Ontario’s public school teachers see as an attack by the Liberals on collective bargaining rights.
To many, this charge will seem unnecessarily inflammatory. And to many, the behaviour of the province’s two public teachers’ unions will seem like a classic case of biting the hand that feeds them.
In today’s Trib, local MPP Liz Sandals, who was a veteran public school trustee before jumping to provincial politics in 2003, lists ways in which her government has been a friend of teachers as it pursued an agenda heavy on educational initiatives.
Many will be surprised at the numbers reeled off by Sandals – school board funding up by $6.5 billion or 45 per cent since the Liberals came to power in 2003; and per pupil funding up by 55%, once declining enrolment linked to demographic trends is taken into account.
As for Ontario’s teachers, they’ve seen their compensation rise by somewhere around 25% since 2004.
So teachers have done very well under the Liberals, and it’s something of a shock to see how strongly teachers in the public English – but not the Catholic or the French-speaking – boards have turned against the government.
Walking away from the provincial negotiating table on the first day of negotiations in February, and staying away ever since, would seem to weaken the argument of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario that its members’ collective bargaining rights have been trampled.
While teachers’ frustration needs to be acknowledged, many will think they need to adjust to a changed economy.
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Your editorial has completely trivialized the issue at hand. With a little more research into the situation, you might realize there is a depth and purpose to what the teachers are fighting for. It’s not about a group of priviledged workers “biting the hand that feeds them,” but rather a group of democratic Canadians fighting for constitutional labour rights. It’s unfortunate that the Catholic and French teachers have taken the cowardly path, with their piggy-backing (the “me-too”) clauses written into their bargaining agreement. So basically, if the public teachers fight for democratic rights, at the risk of looking like spoiled brats, the Catholics and French teachers will benefit without the negative press or even the work of the struggle. As a concerned Canadian (who is not a teacher, by the way) I applaud the plight that is being fought for. It’s not for just themselves, it’s for the Canadian labour force as a whole. Being unable to protest the conditions under which one works, goes against everything I’ve ever learned about the freedom of being Canadian. This is the issue. Needless to say, your editorial infuriated me. Manufacturing this crisis is a Liberal ploy that stems from poor planning- this is very clear. Liberals will not be receiving my vote, even if strategically, ever again.
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