The Catholic schools are also unionized and will soon be joining the strike and there is no reason to believe the private schools will not be unionized in the future. Some are unionized now.

The choice will be more like GO,  Chrysler and Ford all Unifor.

Yeah, this strike is really convincing me the teachers care first and foremost about their students!

I would use much stronger words if it wasn’t for the fact that high school teachers are much more competent on average than elementary teachers.(The selection and training to become a high school teacher are much better than for elementary teachers, in my opinion).

Well, it’s economics 101. Teachers have a quasi-monopoly in providing education and daycare and therefore they can set the price. And they do.

Just like in any monopoly situation the price is high for the quality.

It’s funny to me how we can get up in arms about Roger’s cable packages or discussing whether our electricity rates are higher because Hydro is a monopoly but we rationalize that our low quality public schools are ok and that lack of choice in education is ok and even progressive!

Nicholas Kristof basically says reform has failed.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/opinion/nicholas-kristof-beyond-education-wars.html?referrer=

What’s that got to do with the strike?

The strike is simply about the public education system forcing a price increase with not quality increase simply because it can.
It can because it is a monopoly.

Doug, you may be posting on the wrong thread.

So what. The private sector forces price increases every day without quality increases.  Talk to Rogers or Bell or anyone else.

It is called inflation. Everything costs more every year. Without an increase it is a cut.

BTW Canada has the world’s best education system (Time Magazine).

Let’s look at the facts.

Teachers in Ontario strike for the benefit of our children because their working conditions are so harsh they cannot do a good job unless the following working conditions improve:
- PAY: only 76,000 to 94,000 after 10 year experience
- SICK LEAVE: only 10 days/year that cannot be banked
- BENEFITS: only 100% health, only 94% dental, group life insurance only the first 35,000
- PENSION: only between 38,400 to 57,600.

I’m sure a lot of us can relate to the above and understand the teachers’ pain.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/anatomy-of-an-ontario-teachers-paycheque/article6015968/