by Klaus Rohrich
February 7, 2005
Once again the teachers unions are on the warpath. Just when you thought that Dalton’s Fibberals could appease these professional malcontents, they’re demanding more. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has taken a strike mandate, which in some localities was close to unanimous.
In the past the teachers were able to get their way by manipulating parents into believing their job action was "for the children". This time around I do not believe that teachers will be as successful as they have been in the past because I do not believe that parents are as irrational as the teachers are greedy.
The teachers’ main demand is an increase to 200 minutes per week preparatory time from the current average of 150 minutes, plus a raise in pay that’s substantially more than the 2 percent pay being offered by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
Elementary teachers federation president Emily Noble claims that "teachers have an incredible workload and we need to address the working conditions for elementary teachers" as a rationale for threatening to strike. "Workloads must be addressed at the local bargaining table immediately. My team is growing impatient waiting for the board(s) to take our positions seriously. Preparation time needs to be addressed in this contract. Striking is the last resort, but we’re optimistic that we could get a settlement before that."
and a strike appears to be definitely in the cards, as all the locals are singing from the same hymnbook.
"My members will not settle for less preparation time than what Ottawa-Carleton teachers already have," said president of the ETFO North East Local David Livingston. "We can strike or we can negotiate. The next move belongs to the board."
Martin long, who is president of the Toronto Chapter of ETFO, is concerned about the amount of time that teachers spend supervising their charges outside of the classroom. These so-called "unpaid hours" are another sticking point with the teachers unions.
Let’s examine the average elementary teacher’s workload. The school year begins after Labour Day in September, with the average day starting at 8:00 or 8:30 aM when children arrive at school. The actual time in the classroom is less than five hours per day when breaks for recess and lunch are taken into consideration. Then there are holidays. at Christmas time many schools close for upward of two weeks, for which teachers still get paid. Then there’s Easter with attendant days off. March Break is another week that teachers are able to take off with pay. School closes for the year at the end of June and then teachers are off for two months, during which they continue to draw paycheques.
I do not know of many professions wherein it is germane to work for nine months of the year. If teachers spend an average of 25 hours per week in the classroom actually teaching students, what do they do with the rest of their day, as a teaching position presumably is a full-time job? How can supervising children at lunch or recess be considered "unpaid hours"?
Most people I know work at least seven and a half hours per day, fifty weeks a year.
Yet teachers are whining for additional "preparatory time", meaning added time that teachers do not have to be in front of a class. The current 150 minutes per week (or 30 minutes per day) does not appear to be enough to prepare for each day’s curriculum and according to the teachers that additional 10 minutes per day would make all the difference in the world. Sandra Emery, president of the Hamilton-Wentworth local of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario claims "We think it's something that not just good for teachers but also good for kids," adding that this will also allow teachers more time to assemble needed classroom materials.
Most of us in Canada do not have a particularly good memory. That’s why we keep facing the same problems year in year out. When David Peterson and his Liberals ruled Ontario during the early 80s, the teachers were on the warpath. Then the NDP and Bob Rae ran the province for four years during which the teachers were on the warpath. after which Mike Harris and the Conservatives took power and really put the teachers on the warpath. Now that we’ve come full circle and we’re back to a Liberal government under Dalton McGuinty, the teachers are still on the warpath.
What this province needs is a good " Ronald Reagan vs. the air traffic controllers" style housecleaning, except in this case the teachers would get to play the part of the air traffic controllers. That action did not damage air traffic. I doubt if it would damage education.
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