Despite Alberta teachers rejecting a settlement from the government for the second time, the province is stepping in place of teachers after they vowed to strike.
Greedy unions and woke teachers bitch and whine like 2 year Olds I remember going to school and having to stand at the back of the class because the class was so big. We all survived
Yes it was 30-35 students and teachers were able (and quite willing) to reprimand unruly students. Now a days teachers are not able to even yell at students.
Money is not the only issue. Class sizes and lack of support for handicapped or special needs children. Too many kids float through the system due to a lack of EAs and support for the teacher in the classroom to have time for all the students. Parents do not support the teachers and do not seem to be interested in working with the teachers until problems with behaviours or performance is out of control. It’s amazing how many people are envying the teachers their summers off, maybe they should have chosen a teaching profession.
I am not a union supporter but I do support the teachers in the classroom.
Well, when my kid, who is special needs, went to a designated school that serves that population, he got into a bit of trouble on a work experience. NO ONE FOLLOWED UP on his work experience & no one didn't know what was going on until we brought it to their attention. It was basically a "shoulder shrug" & that was it. We pulled him.
I suppose that's nice for parents, but what about us schmucks who are forced to pay these exorbitant salaries when we no longer have kids in school. My children have all been out of school for well over 30 years, my wife and I live on CPP, OAS and GIS and we're living below the poverty line but we still have to pay school tax. Sick of it.
Money isn't the only issue. The teachers asked to discuss class size and conditions, but their request was turned down cold, dead stop, no. The nurses and other unions have life safety provisions in their contracts. The teachers need the same. This issue has not been openly discussed because the Province does not wish to include these issues in the contract. It needs to be opened up.
Teachers were complaining about class size since I was in high school in the 60's. Now they have immigrants that don't speak English and kids with autism that don't speak. But if I had an MEd and was making $110,000 a year with the summer off, I wouldn't be striking.
If you had been hit by a student and had no recourse, would you strike then? A student hit a Vice Principal, and she was knocked to the floor and suffered a concussion. Six months later, she finally got back to work. Is that not a good enough reason to have discussions around teacher safety? Or, is it only the fact that the ATA is close to the NDP? I definitely dislike that fact, but it is not a reason not to negotiate what is affecting the teachers' lives.
Class size has little to do with safety. IMO. I'd be worried more about a class of 15 with 10 thugs in it. Of course these days victims can be treated worse than offenders. And again...I grew up in an era where teens were disciplined by parents and teachers, and drug dealers/gangs were non existent. Times change.
I'm still reeling at the fact that Alberta educators couldn't tell the difference between indoctrinating, hard-core porn and the classics! Perhaps Alberta should implement a homeschooling program that pays the parent a salary and provides online classes with help desks. We'd save money on teachers salaries, benefits and pensions, not to mention all the other costs like building maintenance, erecting new schools, support staff, transportation, breakfast and lunch programs, etc.
Let these political grandstanders shoot themselves in the foot like the unwitting postal workers did!
Obviously Smith has a disconnect with the ATA. The teachers are not asking for higher wages, they need smaller class sizes. Bring in portables until you build the new schools.
The teachers are asking for secure spaces in which to teach. There are many students who don’t speak English or have parents who don’t take care of their children and think that it’s a teacher’s responsibility. They act up and the teacher cannot reprimand them.
Es they are asking for higher wages they are asking for more be if its, they got all of that now they want personal body guards?
Think that Smith should just fire the whole lot and start over again, the new wave that do not speak English or French, send them to special institutionstto learn to speak either English or French, no access to the school systembuntill they comprehend the spoken word in the classroom.
I know I am most likely preaching to the choir but the weight of the upcoming strike is sitting heavy right now.
Today I had a discussion with my class of 36 about the upcoming strike. There were tears shed on both sides because none of us want to be staying home next week. They know teachers are going on strike for them. They know that being in a class of 36 should not be normal, but sadly, they all said they have never really been in a class smaller than 28 students. For 6 years, my students have been in jam packed classes where they are lucky to get one-on-one time with their teachers.
The government and some of the public say they don't understand what teachers want. So here is a social story to help.
When I started teaching 14 years ago I had a grade 1/2 class with 18 students, a part time EA who was in my class every morning, and 1 -2 students on IPP (Individual Program Plan for medical, behavioural, or learning disabilities). Was teaching hard then? Absolutely, teaching is always going to be hard because I care but it was a different kind of hard.
Flash forward to this year. I have 36 students in my 5/6 class. 16 of those students have an IPP. Between those 16 students there are 29 different codes. I have a significant portion with severe behaviour codes or severe medical codes (Autism or medical conditions). One of my students is non-verbal and needs help with bathroom breaks. I have many with ADHD both medicated and unmedicated. I have several with severe learning disabilities, some of my students can't read or write at all. Some are at a grade 1 reading level and some are at a grade 9 or 10 reading level. I have some students who need an entirely different curriculum because the current one is too advanced so I have to find the resources and make different lessons for those students so they are not sitting around forgotten. I have 11 students who are learning English and have a learning code called EAL. One two of these students are refugees. I have students with PTSD from horrendous experiences and just coming to school is an exhausting experience. Most of my students access our breakfast program because they come to school hungry and many students access our free lunches as well.
I manage all of this basically alone. I have EA support (from the one EA for our program) for 50 minutes, once a week. I am also incredibly fortunate to have a partner teacher so that we can split the 5 and 6s up for a portion of the day. Most schools this just isn't fathomable.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a school based problem, my principal has fiercely and diligently worked to improve my classroom conditions, she has my back all the time and is willing to jump in where ever she can to help. I don't envy her job right now. Telling myself and my colleagues there just isn't enough money for another teacher, there isn't enough money for an EA. The list goes on.
So, what do teachers want?
- Classroom size caps to ensure student learning isn't impacted
- Increased funding per student to support students with complex learning needs and have in-class supports
- Funding to deal with the mental health crisis for students (the number of students I have talked to about their mental health would shock most people. Our students are not okay).
- Fair wages for teachers after taking 0% for more than a decade
- RESPECT for the work we do. We don't do this job for the money but because it is a calling. I have known I wanted to be a teacher since I was 5. I LOVE my job. Hearing that you are a greedy groomer who wants to indoctrinate children is one of the most crushing aspects to this whole ordeal.
If these items aren't addressed our education system will collapse and good educators will be the first to snap under the pressure.
So please, before you judge a teacher for taking strike action, ask them what their working conditions are like. We are ready to share.
I think the whole system needs to be trashed and allow parents to educate their children how they see fit . There are plenty of adults who can teach and plenty of private schools already
The teachers I know are well paid but maybe they haven't had a raise in awhile. I really don't know what the issues are nor how to resolve them if no one is talking to each other. That seems to be happening to society in general, not just the teachers. Everyone is simply screaming at each other & no one has the ability to DISCUSS things anymore. It's a sad state of affairs. But some of the posters here are absolutely right: teachers have been complaining of class sizes for decades & it's still happening.
and what of the families whose kis are 13+?? they just get hung out to dry? it's bad enough that I can't even use the designated parking for me because of the busses...
Becoming an educator is a passion not a get rich scheme. I believe the teachers were offered a good deal under the circumstances. We have 80,000 new students to educate, many with special needs. We need to build more schools as we need to build more homes. I don’t think striking is the best choice for the students. Many will go hungry and many will fall behind. Take the deal, work with the government and set aside partisan differences. Do it for our kids.
Perhaps Alberta should implement a voucher system whereby parents can decide to which school they prefer to send their children.
Greedy unions and woke teachers bitch and whine like 2 year Olds I remember going to school and having to stand at the back of the class because the class was so big. We all survived
Yes it was 30-35 students and teachers were able (and quite willing) to reprimand unruly students. Now a days teachers are not able to even yell at students.
Money is not the only issue. Class sizes and lack of support for handicapped or special needs children. Too many kids float through the system due to a lack of EAs and support for the teacher in the classroom to have time for all the students. Parents do not support the teachers and do not seem to be interested in working with the teachers until problems with behaviours or performance is out of control. It’s amazing how many people are envying the teachers their summers off, maybe they should have chosen a teaching profession.
I am not a union supporter but I do support the teachers in the classroom.
Well, when my kid, who is special needs, went to a designated school that serves that population, he got into a bit of trouble on a work experience. NO ONE FOLLOWED UP on his work experience & no one didn't know what was going on until we brought it to their attention. It was basically a "shoulder shrug" & that was it. We pulled him.
I suppose that's nice for parents, but what about us schmucks who are forced to pay these exorbitant salaries when we no longer have kids in school. My children have all been out of school for well over 30 years, my wife and I live on CPP, OAS and GIS and we're living below the poverty line but we still have to pay school tax. Sick of it.
114000= approx 633.00 per day plus benefits and early retirement. a good teacher is
probably worth it-- problem is that we have a shortage of good qualified teachers that are
not trying to indoctrinate our children. why are teachers forced to be union and pay fees to
a union that is WOKE
Teachers unions are emulating the Union idiots in the USA. Pay the parents of the kids that the teachers are abandoning.
Money isn't the only issue. The teachers asked to discuss class size and conditions, but their request was turned down cold, dead stop, no. The nurses and other unions have life safety provisions in their contracts. The teachers need the same. This issue has not been openly discussed because the Province does not wish to include these issues in the contract. It needs to be opened up.
Teachers were complaining about class size since I was in high school in the 60's. Now they have immigrants that don't speak English and kids with autism that don't speak. But if I had an MEd and was making $110,000 a year with the summer off, I wouldn't be striking.
If you had been hit by a student and had no recourse, would you strike then? A student hit a Vice Principal, and she was knocked to the floor and suffered a concussion. Six months later, she finally got back to work. Is that not a good enough reason to have discussions around teacher safety? Or, is it only the fact that the ATA is close to the NDP? I definitely dislike that fact, but it is not a reason not to negotiate what is affecting the teachers' lives.
Class size has little to do with safety. IMO. I'd be worried more about a class of 15 with 10 thugs in it. Of course these days victims can be treated worse than offenders. And again...I grew up in an era where teens were disciplined by parents and teachers, and drug dealers/gangs were non existent. Times change.
That would be my preference - to send my child to a school of MY choosing.
I'm still reeling at the fact that Alberta educators couldn't tell the difference between indoctrinating, hard-core porn and the classics! Perhaps Alberta should implement a homeschooling program that pays the parent a salary and provides online classes with help desks. We'd save money on teachers salaries, benefits and pensions, not to mention all the other costs like building maintenance, erecting new schools, support staff, transportation, breakfast and lunch programs, etc.
Let these political grandstanders shoot themselves in the foot like the unwitting postal workers did!
Obviously Smith has a disconnect with the ATA. The teachers are not asking for higher wages, they need smaller class sizes. Bring in portables until you build the new schools.
The teachers are asking for secure spaces in which to teach. There are many students who don’t speak English or have parents who don’t take care of their children and think that it’s a teacher’s responsibility. They act up and the teacher cannot reprimand them.
You can bring in portables. But there’s no teachers available. The infrastructure is on overload with all the immigrants coming in
Trudeau/Carney/Singhs controlled destruction of Education.
They've asked for smaller class sizes for 50 years. The class size in 65' was 30-35.
We had 2 grades in one classroom that teachers seemed to handle quite well. That was 60+ years ago.
In grade 9 they experimented with all male classes. They wont do that again.
Es they are asking for higher wages they are asking for more be if its, they got all of that now they want personal body guards?
Think that Smith should just fire the whole lot and start over again, the new wave that do not speak English or French, send them to special institutionstto learn to speak either English or French, no access to the school systembuntill they comprehend the spoken word in the classroom.
Isn't it obvious by now that government cannot be trusted to run the education system
I know I am most likely preaching to the choir but the weight of the upcoming strike is sitting heavy right now.
Today I had a discussion with my class of 36 about the upcoming strike. There were tears shed on both sides because none of us want to be staying home next week. They know teachers are going on strike for them. They know that being in a class of 36 should not be normal, but sadly, they all said they have never really been in a class smaller than 28 students. For 6 years, my students have been in jam packed classes where they are lucky to get one-on-one time with their teachers.
The government and some of the public say they don't understand what teachers want. So here is a social story to help.
When I started teaching 14 years ago I had a grade 1/2 class with 18 students, a part time EA who was in my class every morning, and 1 -2 students on IPP (Individual Program Plan for medical, behavioural, or learning disabilities). Was teaching hard then? Absolutely, teaching is always going to be hard because I care but it was a different kind of hard.
Flash forward to this year. I have 36 students in my 5/6 class. 16 of those students have an IPP. Between those 16 students there are 29 different codes. I have a significant portion with severe behaviour codes or severe medical codes (Autism or medical conditions). One of my students is non-verbal and needs help with bathroom breaks. I have many with ADHD both medicated and unmedicated. I have several with severe learning disabilities, some of my students can't read or write at all. Some are at a grade 1 reading level and some are at a grade 9 or 10 reading level. I have some students who need an entirely different curriculum because the current one is too advanced so I have to find the resources and make different lessons for those students so they are not sitting around forgotten. I have 11 students who are learning English and have a learning code called EAL. One two of these students are refugees. I have students with PTSD from horrendous experiences and just coming to school is an exhausting experience. Most of my students access our breakfast program because they come to school hungry and many students access our free lunches as well.
I manage all of this basically alone. I have EA support (from the one EA for our program) for 50 minutes, once a week. I am also incredibly fortunate to have a partner teacher so that we can split the 5 and 6s up for a portion of the day. Most schools this just isn't fathomable.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a school based problem, my principal has fiercely and diligently worked to improve my classroom conditions, she has my back all the time and is willing to jump in where ever she can to help. I don't envy her job right now. Telling myself and my colleagues there just isn't enough money for another teacher, there isn't enough money for an EA. The list goes on.
So, what do teachers want?
- Classroom size caps to ensure student learning isn't impacted
- Increased funding per student to support students with complex learning needs and have in-class supports
- Funding to deal with the mental health crisis for students (the number of students I have talked to about their mental health would shock most people. Our students are not okay).
- Fair wages for teachers after taking 0% for more than a decade
- RESPECT for the work we do. We don't do this job for the money but because it is a calling. I have known I wanted to be a teacher since I was 5. I LOVE my job. Hearing that you are a greedy groomer who wants to indoctrinate children is one of the most crushing aspects to this whole ordeal.
If these items aren't addressed our education system will collapse and good educators will be the first to snap under the pressure.
So please, before you judge a teacher for taking strike action, ask them what their working conditions are like. We are ready to share.
I think the whole system needs to be trashed and allow parents to educate their children how they see fit . There are plenty of adults who can teach and plenty of private schools already
Sure, let the parents decide and their children wouldn’t go to school at all. SMH
Did you even read what was written? They need help in the classrooms!
The latest settlement is fair, but the Left’s Greed factor, is unsustainable.
The teachers I know are well paid but maybe they haven't had a raise in awhile. I really don't know what the issues are nor how to resolve them if no one is talking to each other. That seems to be happening to society in general, not just the teachers. Everyone is simply screaming at each other & no one has the ability to DISCUSS things anymore. It's a sad state of affairs. But some of the posters here are absolutely right: teachers have been complaining of class sizes for decades & it's still happening.
What is the most effective way for an employer to save money?? Employees going on strike!
and what of the families whose kis are 13+?? they just get hung out to dry? it's bad enough that I can't even use the designated parking for me because of the busses...
Becoming an educator is a passion not a get rich scheme. I believe the teachers were offered a good deal under the circumstances. We have 80,000 new students to educate, many with special needs. We need to build more schools as we need to build more homes. I don’t think striking is the best choice for the students. Many will go hungry and many will fall behind. Take the deal, work with the government and set aside partisan differences. Do it for our kids.