Many of you asked about teachers wearing black today in response to Bill 115. I can offer no opinions on this matter, but you are free to discuss the topic as you wish.
This is my weekly post: In regards to Bill 1115 and whether or not it is a government proposal that should be passed, I find myself to be on the side that strongly advises against passing it. This Bill, more commonly known as the Putting Students First Act, enables activity such as freezing teacher wages for two years, cutting the number of sick days in half (ending one’s ability to collect sick days over time and use them at the appropriate time) and bans striking for two years. And how have teachers rebutted? Well, as we have seen within our own school, teachers have refrained from being involved in extracurricular or volunteer activities as well as donning the colour black. In fact, students ended up running their own extracurricular activities and sports practices. “The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is asking teachers to not participate in school-based or system-level meetings on Mondays. The protest has been dubbed "McGuinty Mondays." (1) One of my main issues with this Bill is simply just its name, “putting students first.” This is not the case at all; the student body of secondary schools in no way benefits from our teachers getting pay cuts or being refrained for standing up to what they believe in. If anything, we suffer from the repercussions this Bill is enacted. Having no school teams because teachers refuse to coach or doing poorly in a subject in your grade 12 year because teachers decided to stop volunteering their time towards extra help our actions that will put students second, behind the government. In my opinion, teachers are currently putting students first. Even despite the stress of this Bill impending upon them, our teachers at Barrie Central took just one sole day off from donating their time to the students. If Ontario’s government truly wishes to put their students first, then in my opinion their best bet would be to come to some sort of agreement with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federations (OSSTF) that will make everyone content. A teacher who is happy in the workplace and whom isn’t succumbed to repression will result in them impressing a happier outlook upon the students. At the end of the day, a happy teacher equals a happy student. Sources: (1) http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/bill-115-passing-prompts-ontario-teachers-wear-black-164616083.html (2) http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2012/09/12/discord-over-bill-115-already-being-felt-in-schools
This is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Bill 1115 and whether or not it is a government proposal that should be passed, I find myself to be on the side that strongly advises against passing it. This Bill, more commonly known as the Putting Students First Act, enables activity such as freezing teacher wages for two years, cutting the number of sick days in half (ending one’s ability to collect sick days over time and use them at the appropriate time) and bans striking for two years. And how have teachers rebutted? Well, as we have seen within our own school, teachers have refrained from being involved in extracurricular or volunteer activities as well as donning the colour black. In fact, students ended up running their own extracurricular activities and sports practices. “The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is asking teachers to not participate in school-based or system-level meetings on Mondays. The protest has been dubbed "McGuinty Mondays." (1) One of my main issues with this Bill is simply just its name, “putting students first.” This is not the case at all; the student body of secondary schools in no way benefits from our teachers getting pay cuts or being refrained for standing up to what they believe in. If anything, we suffer from the repercussions this Bill is enacted. Having no school teams because teachers refuse to coach or doing poorly in a subject in your grade 12 year because teachers decided to stop volunteering their time towards extra help our actions that will put students second, behind the government. In my opinion, teachers are currently putting students first. Even despite the stress of this Bill impending upon them, our teachers at Barrie Central took just one sole day off from donating their time to the students. If Ontario’s government truly wishes to put their students first, then in my opinion their best bet would be to come to some sort of agreement with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federations (OSSTF) that will make everyone content. A teacher who is happy in the workplace and whom isn’t succumbed to repression will result in them impressing a happier outlook upon the students. At the end of the day, a happy teacher equals a happy student.
Sources:
(1) http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/bill-115-passing-prompts-ontario-teachers-wear-black-164616083.html
(2) http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2012/09/12/discord-over-bill-115-already-being-felt-in-schools