Elemental, Dear Educators

"Ontarians expect us, as a government, to find the right balance, and balance competing interests.  They expect us to be thoughtful and balanced in the face of difficult decisions, and that's exactly what we've done.
"But let me be very clear - if ETFO (The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario) does not hold its commitment to the students and families at these boards, we're prepared to take action."
Education Minister Laurel Broten.

Controversial Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act that was drafted by Laurel Broten and passed into law backed by the opposition Progressive Conservatives has fed a bitterly divisive battle between Ontario's teachers' unions and the Government of Ontario.  The government sees itself responding to the critical issue of a burdensome provincial deficit, and foolishly felt that public service unions it had been generous with in the past eight years of contract negotiation would be willing to help battle that deficit.

Wrong.  The provincial associations representing the medical community and the educational community have been at loggerheads with government over that quaint presumption, bringing uncertainty to the fore with respect to critical public services that are the mark of an advanced society in the provision of fundamentally quality health and educational services to the wider public.  Both professions are proud of the work they do, but they insist it is not up to them to make concessions.

That their earnings place them in the wealthy category of the upper-middle-class at a time when the lower middle class is struggling to maintain a vestige of job security does not seem to trouble them.  Nor does the fact that the province must struggle to stretch its overburdened budget to afford these integral services at a time when other social welfare agencies similarly funded by the province have seen a greater call for assistance then ever before.

Elementary school teachers are threatening like their secondary school counterparts to impose work-to-rule.  Deeming voluntary activities expendable, to be withdrawn  when they consider it advisable as a warning to parents and to those who employ them - the province through the funding made available through taxation - that they are not shy to indulge in displays of petulance doing harm to the school system and the students educated therein.

Attending departmental and school meetings, leading field trips, meeting with parents, attending professional development sessions, mentoring after-school activities are all considered to be generous extras the teachers provide from the goodness of their hearts and may withdraw when they wish.  They are the veritable tail wagging the dog. 

The dog that employs them and ensures optimum working conditions, generous payscales and enviable perquisites in time off, paid vacation time, banked sick days, and outstanding retirement benefits.

Teachers work hard in their profession, an extremely demanding one where many succeed in learning well how to manage student affairs, present the school curriculum in a positive learning environment, exhibit patience and skill in stimulating students and encouraging them, coping with students in various stages of academic absorption from varying backgrounds and cultures, and creating an enthusiastic student body eager to learn.

For this and the stresses and strains on patience and perseverance, along with success in imparting knowledge, teachers are generously recompensed, receiving automatic pay increases in the first ten years of their work, where at the optimum of having reached that ten-year goal, up to $100,000 annually can be taken home.  The school year is 171 days in length; the remainder of the calendar year leaves ample down time.

The instructional day per teacher is no more than five hours.  High school teachers are assigned three classes each semester, with a school day being comprised of four scheduled classes.  Teaching time at the secondary level amounts to four hours.  On top of which is time used for arranging curricula and classroom topics, marking tests, and the obligatory fifteen minutes pre- and -post-instruction day requiring teacher presence.

This grateful acknowledgement by the public and the government of teachers' importance to society in ensuring generous recompense for middling-onerous work seems to have brought a sense of entitlement to the profession, releasing them in their opinion, of any obligations they do not wish to assume.  They take huge umbrage at the provincial government appearing to meddle in the affairs of their negotiations with the school boards.

Bill 115 is being challenged in the courts by four unions; a resolution through that source will not take place any time soon.  Job action encouraged and stressed by the teachers' unions creates an oppositional situation that victimizes students.  Since educating children is a primary responsibility of the province and teaching is the principal duty of teachers hired for that purpose, this should be considered a vital service.

Interrupting such a vital service with work slowdowns, work-to-rule efforts, rotating strikes and the like means that students are not exposed to the fully rounded experience through the school day and the academic year that they are entitled to.  When it comes to entitlements, given the emoluments teachers are guaranteed for efforts expended, one could readily accept that it is the children's and the students' entitlements that are being abridged.

In Ottawa, parents of over 48,000 elementary school students must now busy themselves making alternative arrangements for their children's oversight in the face of an elementary teachers' one-day walk-out.  Three thousand teachers representing 120 elementary schools in the Ottawa public school system are set to strike on Wednesday to bring home to legislators the displeasure of their union over Bill 115.

The president of the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Teachers Federation claims teachers regret having to take that action, but the blame is the government's for having 'pushed them into that decision'.  "We've been for nine months, trying to get the government to step from the position it has taken (on Bill 115). We are trying to get them to take another look at what they are doing." 

The government was elected to public office to manage the public school system.  Teachers' unions were elected by their members to cater to the specific interests of their members who pay them union dues.  The greater aggregate in terms of influence, numbers and entitled benefits are the taxpayers who expect children to be exposed to a good education and whose funding of teachers' salaries ensures that.

On this particular issue the tail should surrender the direction to the dog who knows where it is going, and just follow along behind, with the understanding that the dog is reliant on its tail and will always be mindful of that fact.