Joel,

I am actually surprised that Malkin published your memo.

We asked you as a province to empathize with our debt,most of it has been accrued due to the uncompromising demands of public sector unions and Dalton`s desire for Liberal power and consistency.As a result of asking for a 2 year reprieve from these constant overwhelming demands
we stand here today with the volunteer issue.
I know you think you know what the private sector workplace is like but I assure you,you don`t.

The employer shares his woes with his employees and says to them,I have to not only not give you a raise but I also have to reduce your salary because the business is unsustainable with these wages,let`s all work together to make it better and revisit next year.We also have a choice to stay or leave.
You just had to say okay to a two year wage freeze,after all your salaries and benefits are outstanding, to keep the peace and gain appreciation from the public.
Many employers don`t thank their employees for staying up all night to complete a report or try to find a way to save the company money or make the “sale”.It`s part of our job to do so.
If we don`t quantify that working after 3 to organize clubs and sports is part of the job,it`s about time we did.
Also most of us get a two week vacation,not 12 weeks.
I can`t empathize in the least with your pro union position,scold your union,you`ve forgotten who pays you-the tax payer.

Well Joel, there is some basic advocacy points to follow, if you wanted to truly have your letter not to be forgotten, and filed G for garbage bin. From what I understand, one of the don’t rules for parents dealing with the public education system in any aspect - is to talk about their own work related activities in addressing concerns about their children. in writing or verbally to the teachers, principals or school board staff. Nobody will pay attention to the parent if it drifts off to being all about the parent and their work day.

Likewise, a letter from a teacher describing their work and how ungrateful parents are does not lead to understanding and highly doubtful in promoting two-way conversations of mutual understanding.

So, you want parents to thank you….....Below are a few articles showing the parents’ side, their day and I do hope you take the time to thank parents and maybe take the time to research on why the public education system must be brought into the 21st century.

“National data shows that on average teachers work fewer hours per week than people in other professions–nearly three hours a week less. That’s according to this 2008 analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (brought to our attention by the Buckeye Institute). The analysis is based on interviews from 2003-2006 conducted as part of the American Time Use Survey.”
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2011/10/05/teachers-work-fewer-hours-than-other-professionals-and-were-not-counting-summer-vacations/

This what teachers would like parents not to talk about. “10 Things Teachers Don’t Want To Hear From Parents”
http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10682-10-things-teachers-dont-want-to-hear-from-parents

The above, my favourite is number 10 - why it is number 10, I have no idea because it represents the biggest threat to a teacher and the principal of the school. School boards hate it when parents bypassed them. The public education system don’t really like the parents who write letters and for good reason, its all about the school operations, instruction methods and education policies that are hurting their children.

A series of letters from a concerned parent.
http://www.jefflindsay.com/Education.shtml

Parents of special education children - “Leslie Phillips pulled her son out of a Katy school when he was in second grade, opting to pay a $30,000-a-year tuition bill rather than continue fighting for the services she felt he needed. The family viewed tuition as a better investment than a legal battle they were unlikely to win. To add urgency, her son, who has an autism disorder, was coming home with bruises that no one could explain.”
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/More-parents-of-special-needs-kids-fleeing-public-3815655.php

A letter from a teacher,much like Joel’s letter. A comment from a parent - “Your stand is basically ‘things didn’t go my way, so I’m taking my ball and going home’.” And of course the justifications of teachers, and how hard done they are.
http://sine-of-the-times.blogspot.ca/2013/01/an-open-letter-to-premier-mcguinty-and.html

A British article - talking about the troubles of social culture of parents at the school gate. By the way, it gets really sticky if a few parents are also teachers. They take over, driving many parents to their respective corners, and the whispering commences.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1211051/Enemies-school-gate-Squabbling-bitchy-cliques-playground-bullying—thats-just-mothers.html

An Australian article - Teachers tell parents to raise their own kids.
http://www.mamamia.com.au/parenting/teachers-to-parents-raise-your-own-damned-kids/

“Teachers are not substitute parents. Repeat after me: teachers are not responsible for the bits parents miss out. They are not there to pick up the slack if parents can’t be bothered doing it right to begin with.”  Too bad the Ontario education ministry did not get the missive from the Australia education ministry. Now if we could only get teachers to see the missing bits in knowledge gaps, literacy and numeracy skills of their students, before they criticized parents from everything between A to Z.

No doubt, Joel wants parents to hand him little gifts of appreciation, as well as a thank-you. Sorry mate, gone are the days of handing an apple to the teacher. It appears that the teachers’ unions only want compliant parents to live in the pretend world of teachers busily working, while ignoring the concerns of parents.

With all due respect for Mr. Winter, teachers are members of the one occupation where they constantly talk to everyone about how hard they work.  Sorry, when one can go home at 2:30 p.m. and is in the classroom fewer than half the days/annum, this is not hard work.  Every time I hear a teacher talk about how hard their job is, I think it’s just the union talking, and trying to fool us into believing their bombastic statements.

Jo-Anne, you need to investigate your facts.  A two year wage freeze was already agreed upon.  Bill 115 is the problem, not the wage freeze.

On the Agenda which aired about 2 weeks ago it seems that that was in no way agreed upon by the 4 representatives!
Yes,there was also the difficulty they had in not accepting the reduction of accumulated sick days,however if you read the news and go back to before the bill had to be put into action,the union did not try to negotiate before the date and say,we accept the wage freeze we`d like to discuss the other issues.

The Catholic system is up and running and kids are getting their after school clubs and sports,field trips and graduation rehearsals.
It`s obvious you have no idea what the real world looks like or feels like.