Take heart Malkin,I read the comments,they are not that bad:).

This is a message that needs to be out there,it will evoke fury,you`re very brave.

One comment is from a teacher who does not wish to have the union impose their will or make her pay dues…you can be sure there are many more out there!

What I like about it is it doesn`t say teachers aren`t basically effective and well intentioned,it says unions are out of control,and they are big time..

In my circle where no one is in education,the public feels frustrated with their never ending demands and outstanding working conditions.The fact that they are withdrawing their help in preparing students for grade 8 graduations and the Kiwanis music Festival,competitive sports trips etc…has left the public with an acerbic taste in their mouths.

This was a bad move on the union`s part.
The union could have settled before the bill had to be
used to get them back to work,the Catholic system accepted a 2 year wage freeze,a much better move!

What`s the big deal???

You can be sure with some of the Conservative statements on what they would do if they were in power,the polls show that the public is fed up with whining,spoiled teachers.
It`s so sad it`s come to this.

Teachers believe that students need very well compensated happy teachers working in very small classes with excellent resources and support. Since that is exactly what parents want, they are natural allies.

Have you ever noticed that parents always remove political support from politicians that attack teachers? McGuinty attacks teachers, Liberals lose support, McGuinty forced out, polls shift to NDP not PCs.

Mr Hudak may resurrect the Liberals with even wilder attacks. One thing is for sure. He will not draw support with attacks on teachers, ADK and support staff. That is wildly unpopular.

That arrogant attitude…...where does it come from?

From cruising the web pages -  ” It didn’t take long for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to shoot down the provincial government’s proposal for a 10-year peace agreement. Premier Christy Clark would hardly have been surprised by the union’s response.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/gary-mason-teachers-union-rejects-bc-liberals-olive-branch/article7830937/

Even gift-wrapped doesn’t work with teachers’ unions.

So on to another event, where the Ontario teachers’ unions are in a snit, of how dare the school boards, used their legal options, to find out once and for all, if the removal of extracurricular activities is an illegal strike action.

“The best hope of Ontario parents and students for returning to a normal school year will play out in a legal challenge on Friday, as administrators from two small school boards argue that union leaders do not have the power to order elementary teachers to boycott voluntary activities.”......” In an e-mail to the Upper Canada District School Board’s elementary teachers dated Jan. 17, union local president Margaret Merpaw offers advice for teachers who feel “pressured to participate in voluntary activities.” She suggests that teachers assert that they are “focusing” on their teaching, or that their “workload is becoming so great” they don’t have time to lead extracurricular activities such as sports teams and clubs.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/ontario-school-boards-issue-challenge-to-unions/article7668536/

Can’t wait for the outcome at the Ontario Labour Board, In the comment section, “You think that only EC were axed?

My kid will write one of the exams without the last part of the course (about 1/8 of the material) being covered. I had to teach that part at home, evenings, making up in two hours for 6 hours of waste of time and money - definition of present school system in Ontario.

Of course the teacher will get full pay for doing a subpar job since he just slacked during school hours. In union talk: if you show up you get paid. Performance is irrelevant.”

No it isn’t about the money, its all about the democracy. What democracy? The kind that the teachers’ unions preferred where no one gets to participate unless they play by the unions’ rules.

Over at the Star, the reporting of the day the music died - ” This is the year the music contests died.

And drama too.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1319857—teacher-turmoil-sounds-sour-note-for-music-festivals

Can’t have the presses running at the schools either. In case, the students get funny ideas in their heads, the type of democracy the teachers’ unions are talking about, is the pretend kind. “The ongoing dispute between teachers and the Ontario government meant they lost their staff supervisor, their funding, and were blocked from meeting in the school’s classrooms, but a group of students at North Toronto Collegiate managed to beat the odds to publish the January edition of their school newspaper.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/students-overcome-government-teachers-dispute-to-publish-school-paper-themselves/article7552205/

In my travels, I bumped into the facebook page of the ETFO. Fine example of its all about the money, and everything else is secondary.

The first post at the top - “RT @ETFOpresident: All #ETFO agreements, neg in good faith, say ex-curr activities are voluntary! Now Trillium LL & UC boards say they are mandatory! Shame!”
http://www.facebook.com/ETFOprovincialoffice

At the end of the comments, to tied in with where does this attitude come in?  One just have to read them. Newer comments to justified the actions of the union are now being made within the legal parameters. The attitude, the teachers are the stand-in parents, and they have to take away the EC activities because of liability issues. Ergo, it is safer for everyone just to go from class to class. I have a bridge real cheap to buy too. The teachers’ unions are becoming real desperate to get the public buy into their democracy.

In one comment - “It’s a good thing this school is not in York Region.

A few years ago, a student at Richmond Hill High School was suspended for handing out a newspaper that he had created, without staff permission.

When asked about the Charter of Rights, the principal said “Freedom of expression is OK, but we have our rules”.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/students-overcome-government-teachers-dispute-to-publish-school-paper-themselves/article7552205/comments/

As the fates of the twins - human and civil rights decided the teachers’ unions will be their date in their trysts at the tribunals, courts and in the social media arena. The teachers’ unions are balking because they have just found out how very detrimental the twins are to their cause. The small school boards of the David size, decided to embraced the twins, and used them as the slingshot to fight the Goliath teachers’ unions. The unions are huffy and puffy discovering all their bluster is falling flat since the unions have been too busy over the years, trampling over the rights of others, and the students they serve.

As a fellow human being I find the teacher’s unhappiness with getting less understandable.

It is hard for any of us to have no pay raises or benefits shrink. Any of us would feel that the current benefits - however generous - have been hard earned and are rightly ours.
I’ve been there. All of Ontario has been there except for the public service and especially except for the teachers.

Even 10 years ago while small companies were stingy with benefits at least the big companies had defined benefit pension plans, paid medical insurance at 80% without the employee paying for that insurance.
Today even big companies stopped offering such benefits.
No company had provisions for 10 sick days a year. Anywhere under 5 is probably ok, above it raises questions about your commitment or your health. Paying for unused sick days or taking unused sick days as days off? Unheard of. Ever. Not even 20 years ago.
Salary increases? Much smaller if any. Wave after wave of restructuring and outsourcing has left most of us happy to have a job, happier yet if that job looks needed in the future.
Opportunities for advancement? Yes, a few, much fewer than in the past. As the saying go, the farther up you go the more they owe you: evenings, weekends, pager to anwer to in the middle of the night. For most positions the unwritten rule is some overtime is expected.The more well run places overtime is kept in check in a lot it isn’t.
As work shrinks due to outsourcing, the ones that haven’t gone the extra mile or who haven’t changed to doing complex, iffy work that cannot be outsourced easily are gone.

So yeah, I have felt what the teachers feel. Most of Ontario has. We had to adapt and change and work extra for the same pay or benefits or been though layoffs for 10-15 years now.
From that point of view teachers have been living in an ivory tower and have no sense of reality and how out of touch their entitled attitude looks to us.

They don`t have to worry any more though,Kathleen Wynne will give them everything they want and more because there`s bound to be a spring election.

Like one teacher said to me,teachers can bring down a government.Too big to vote??????

Malkin, I can understand why you feel discouraged.  My take on the responses to your blogs on Huffington Post is that many of these people see the handwriting on the wall and are loudly protesting.  They educators don’t want to see the change that’s inevitable, and if there are layoffs, where would they go to earn the type of salaries, benefits, short days, sick days, summers off, etc?  With all due respect, many teachers with their BA’s and eight months of teachers’ college would be store clerks earning minimum wage—all summer.  Others may not understand the world of the private sector and truly believe that they’re worth every penny and all of the benefits, and would somehow justify to themselves that they deserve the summers off.  Working in the real world would be an eye-opener for so many of them.

Bottom line, despite the fact that you feel you’re wasting your time, is that you’re getting the word out through another media outlet.  You do an excellent job stating facts in a dispassionate way, which is so important.  In other words—keep trudging through that slush.  You’re needed .

Today there was a good opinion piece by Simon Kent in the Sun—Cast Off The Union Chains.  Seems the tipping point is reached.  The headline is different on the online version:  http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/28/teachers-more-into-protecting-their-pay-than-their-students

A good piece at the Globe and Mail.

Had to laugh, the teachers are losing whatever parental support they had left,  fast.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/teachers-are-using-childrens-activities-as-political-tool-school-board-lawyers/article7954753/

In the comment section - “My son is in grade 4 at a private school. He get’s all the attention he needs (it’s unusual, but he is one of four in his grade four class). He has full EC from 7:30am to 5:30pm (when desired) including French from Kindergarten, musical instruments, dance class and trips to various arts and educational events.

The cost now per student in the Ontario public school system is $11,000 up from $7,500 in 2000. His private school tuition is $9,500…........But we do both agree, when the good grace of offering help to a student outside of class hours is viscerally condemned by a union, supposedly working for the teacher, you must realize that the union is really just working for itself. OSSTF makes over $60 million a year. What on earth does it need that much money for? What possible services to their union members cost that much?”

The public are making the connections. The teachers’ unions will have a PR nightmare on their hands, and soon the school boards will have a different kind of PR nightmare. One comment - “The David Suzuki Foundation receives support from a variety of schools in Ontario. Suzuki also is supported across Canada.

Last October, John Abbott College in Montreal agreed to pay David Suzuki $40,000.00 plus ‘benefits’ to speak to their students. Part of the speaking contract (!) included Suzuki asking for bodyguards. Not your usual, bodyguards, They had to be female of a certain description. “

The parents will be asking tough questions on the spending habits of the public education system, who think the public purse is like raiding the kid’s piggy bank, and like magic money reappears.

Another comment - “I drop my two elementary age kids at school most mornings. Ever see what the teachers wear to school now? T shirts, hockey jerseys, yoga pants and jeans are the norm. They look like slobs. Unprofessional and disheveled. “

Down my way, the male teachers still wear tweed jackets and the female teachers always fresh and neat. Notice the complaint in the Ontario parents’ forums, becoming more common since the strike.

When it is finish and done, the teachers’ unions may be a shadow of its former self. Right to work, and EC activities part of their work duties.

On the Agenda last night,the clarity of their issues were extracted.
It`s apparent that it`s the sick days and not wages.
It seems a wage freeze for 2 years was acceptable.

It appears the tone of the negotiation was disrespectful and hurtful as stated by 6 representatives.
Finally they conceded that the Union failed at communicating their needs and it`s obvious they are upset about their public relations fiasco.
They all felt justified in extracting the extra curriculars,they said-we have no choice.
It`s obvious new contracts need to clarify that these participations are part of the job,we can`t leave them as voluntary any more.
It`s also obvious that no matter how good the Liberals were to them and how fortunate they are they can`t “see” it.They want those sick days.

They work too few hours for their wages and pensions-we need to make sure we put extracurriculars in the contracts.
Hopefully it will get resolved but I don`t know how.