When the government stopped catering to the teachers’ unions, it’s evident that their absolute power is no longer.

OT (as usual)—teachers claim their main complaint is about their right to collective bargaining.  From my understanding, the reason arbitration would always go in favour of the psu’s (regardless of how broke the province or municipality was) was because these same unions would refuse an arbitrator who would take a tougher stand (perhaps they were more understanding the burdened taxpayers’ side of the story?).  With that kind of power over the arbitrators, the psu’s, in my opinion, were not engaging in collective bargaining:  they were extorting $$ from tax payers. 
I’m not a big fan of the liberals and, regarding Bill 115, I don’t necessarily agree with what they have done, however I do understand that these psu’s are way out of control.

Back to the above blog, I agree with every word written:  it’s so obvious what a little competition can do.  The sooner the voucher system comes to Ontario, the better for our children—especially the poor ones!  I would love to see the working poor rest assured that their children have a real chance because they’re getting a good education!  The voucher system will take the power away from self-interested unions and educrats and put it in the hands of the tax payers and parents—where it belongs.

To add - the public education system is at a crossroad that the unions can’t stopped because the public education system is no longer doing its job - and that is educating children to their full potential. Furthermore, the public education system is having difficulties to educate 100 % of the middle and upper class students. Soon, the penny will drop for the majority of parents to demand vouchers and major reconfiguration of the public education model. that is the best interest of the children and not the adults and their agendas inside the public education system.

In Ontario the unions be paying dearly for their antics and as well as school boards. It is costing too much money to educate children, and even then its no guarantee that the student will walk out with good skills and levels in literacy and numeracy, let alone have the requirements to enter into post-secondary fields of studies.

In the Moore case - the factum from the school board - “In essence, the Appellant seeks a guarantee of literacy. Children learn to read at different rates and have different levels of ability. Reading ability is based on factors unique to each
student. Fifty percent of students are below average readers.4 Neither the Code nor the School
Act [School Act 1989],5 guarantees students will achieve a specific literacy outcome. Rather, the
School Act 1989 mandates school boards to provide all school age children a free educational
program that, in the opinion of the board, is designed to enable learners to develop their
individual potential.”
http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/factums-memoires/34041/FM020_Respondent_Board-of-Education-of-School-District-No-44.pdf

So a free educational program (I know that nothing is free) gets the taxpayers at a high cost to the public purse an opportunity for our youth to developed their potential without the benefit of reaching good to excellent skills in the foundation of reading, writing and numeracy. Would anyone pay tuition to a private school selling this line? No, I don’t think so…

The public education system has become a grand babysitting service as some would say. But what is has become is a place that someone goes to for enrichment, and the private extracurricular activities of tutoring are the places where the youth will received their education to understand the enrichment activities of the public school. For many private tutoring is expensive, so they are stuck in a public school that no longer conducts and ensure their students reaches proficiency levels in reading, writing and numeracy.

To make matters worse, when students are about to graduate. Apparently, they no longer want to do reference letters for students unless the students are the top achievers in school. Well over 80 % of students are left flapping in the wind, as to what they should do after grade 12, and really left hanging when it comes to applying at post-secondary and supplementary materials. Once upon a time, it was done with a willing heart, but to my dismay, even a child who was sitting at grade 1 levels at the end of grade 3, to rise to a 80 something average by the end of grade 12,  is not worth their time and effort. Besides that they never heard of the practice. Another secret reveal, its done all the time for the top achievers completing for provincial scholarships, university scholarships and post-secondary admission applications. But they won’t do it for the students who are not the top achievers.

The public education system has to go, and bring on the vouchers because no parent should go through the hell that some parents go through, and other parents who done everything that the public education and the school has asked them to do, only to find out that they are now paying good money out for the next two years on upgrading their child’s 3 Rs and knowledge on stuff that should have been all taught and mastered by the end of grade 12.