My state of nausea with the ongoing bleating of the “give the teachers what they want” saga, has forced me to add my own bleating.
I think the main question which should be asked is will all those demanded raises really improve the education of the children? I think not. I do think it is a tactic always used to bamboozle the heart but not reach the logical mind of all non-teachers.
Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way against people being appropriately compensated for the work they perform. On the contrary.
How do you feel/think when someone is protected by a union and they are totally ineffective in their job, especially the teaching of your children? Should they automatically benefit? Are you really bedazzled by the result of the present education method? The semi-literacy of too many children, for example.
Maybe it is not the small percentage of poor teachers who are at fault. Maybe it is the system that pushes the kids ahead even when they don’t have a clue what is going on just so they stay in the same class as their peers.
What do you think/feel when people, who work in very difficult jobs and work long hours and weeks, are told that there is no more money to pay them what they are entitled to and deserve? All workers would like to have not only the salary, but also the copious benefits the teachers presently receive, even without the increases.
Maybe, we as a caring society could kill two birds with one stone and get our heads together in order to come up with ways that the city, the province and Ottawa could eliminate the always-present waste from the revenue we provide for them so that the teachers, and everyone else, would be able to receive their(reasonable) desires and the city, its needs met.
Just think, when council requires more cash, they will now be more imaginative than solely the annual increase in property taxes, especially of those with limited incomes. Until we do that, or something similar, maybe the deserving teachers, and all other unions in the near future, could hold back in their demands as most of the citizenry are forced to do. At present, the coffers do not appear to be flush.
Just think of this, our city being recognized for the many ways we have all contributed to, and insisted that our excellent suggestions have changed the day. And improved the lot of us all.
Simone Najat Greiner