No, it's not all about a raise. 2% is great, and would be about in line with cost-of-living, and that's a basic thing that every single person who earns a wage should get.
Government wants to give us 1% according to Bill 124. For me next year, this difference would amount to about $750 a year, or about a large coffee from Tim's a day.
On strike days, we don't get paid by our employer (obviously). Next Friday will be my fourth strike day, which in terms of gross earnings means I'm out about $1500.
If it's about the money, does giving up that much money make sense to you?
In 2018-19, secondary schools were funded at one teacher for every 22 students. In March 2019, government announced that this would be increased in phases to one teacher for every 28 students.
Warning bells.
Warning bells.
In the same announcement, the government announced that starting in 2020-21, students entering high school would have to take four mandatory E-learning courses to complete high school. They've since gone to two.
It's been tried in Michigan, and was a catastrophic failure. Failure rates well above classroom instruction due to the lack of teacher guidance and demand for skills that students do not yet have.
Government then introduced Bill 124, which mandates a maximum pay increase of 1% for public sector workers, just in time for teacher bargaining. But that was after police and fire already got 2%/year or better. Wonder why?
Looks targeted, doesn't it? Whether it is or not, it's a violation of Charter Rights to collective bargaining, and is under suit. I think you can safely bet on nurses getting the shaft there too. Wonder why.
Now for this year. My board, Halton, was funded at 24.85:1 for the secondary panel. The result was a train wreck. 154 permanent teachers were made potentially redundant last April.
I got lucky and got all of my sections back for September, but around 40 teachers did not get recalled, and another 30 or so were only partially recalled. Expect this to happen again in April when we are slated to receive funding at 27.35:1 according to HDSB Chair @AndreaGrebenc.
She did a very interesting interview on CBC Metro Morning not long ago - linked here. cbc.ca/listen/live-ra…
The directive is still to go to 28:1. More teachers will be made redundant, and this will almost certainly include me again. In Halton, this amounts to some 300-400 courses lost – one full-time equivalent teacher teaches six courses in a year.
It's only going to get worse, and it's going to be tech and art courses that get the axe first. #CutsHurtKids.
#ClassSizeMatters too – this semester, my smallest class is 30. Some of my colleagues have senior science courses in the mid-to-high 30s. This means that students not only lose out on attention, but on activity as well; labs can only be done as demos for example.
This isn't just impractical, it's dangerous. This many people in a classroom becomes a violation of building codes. These changes put students in danger. The changes that the government has made – without bargaining, consultation, or support – has put students in harm's way.
Teachers don't like strikes any more than parents do. Especially in this weather, it gets miserable. More than anything, we want a fair contract. But we've seen catastrophic effects to education in one year of the 28:1 phase-in – This was at 24.85:1. It's only going to get worse.
Arts courses lost. Tech courses lost. Sections collapsed. Classrooms full to bursting. Reduced interaction. Mandatory courses – Grade 10 math - with waitlists. Students forced to take Grade 12 English, Physics, Calculus in night school, or worse, private credit mills.
Less support for high needs students. 10000 fewer caring adults in the building. More students who need support getting missed. Fewer teachers, coaches, club-runners, band and choir directors, confidants, supporters. Fewer teams, clubs, productions, shows.
Less access to teachers. Less access to courses. That will mean less access to trades. Less access to post-secondary. For some students, less access to anything and everything that makes high school bearable.
That's why we're striking. That's what matters. That's what has cost me $1500 so far, and as far as I'm concerned if it gets a fair contract for teachers and students, with #NoCutsToEducation, it's money well spent.
Does that make a bit more sense to you?
Does that make a bit more sense to you?
Alright. Ask me anything. And kindly retweet - the more eyeballs, the better.
Tagging in central and local unions @osstf and @OSSTFD20TEACHER
Hey @maritstiles might be able to make some hay too
Holy crap this blew up. I don’t have a SoundCloud or anything to plug but I really enjoy Cat Twitter and there’s a cat fighting cancer that I’ve taken an interest in. If some of you wouldn’t mind helping her finish the fight that’d be awesome.
