On June 30th, 2008, I wrote that Ontario parents who had elementary aged children in the public system should prepare for a fall strike. Well, I am not so sure anymore. That said, it is always good to have alternative child care plans lined up — just in case — because as it states on the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE) website:

On August 31, 2008, most of the 475 collective agreements in Ontario’s publicly funded schools will expire. In January 2008, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne initiated informal discussions with trustee associations, teacher federations and unions to explore new four-year collective agreements before their current agreements expire….[However], the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has left the provincial discussion table.

So, ETFO left the bargaining table some time ago and has not yet returned. Here is the link to the ETFO site explaining one of the main bargaining issues — closing the gap between the per-pupil grants for secondary students versus elementary students. As I wrote in my previous post (and linked above), as long as I can remember secondary student grants were always higher because it was claimed that it was more expensive to educate the older students — given the cost of textbooks and other resources at that level.

If, however, the Ontario government gives in to ETFO on the “gap” issue to avoid a strike, parents and all taxpayers need to know that decision could cost Ontario taxpayers up to $1 billion dollars more. Now, if that actually translated into more resources for children, most of us would not object. However, my guess is, it will only translate into higher salaries and benefits for ETFO members.

Remember, Dalton McGuinty has said he is the “Education Premier.” As such, just how long, I wonder, will the Ontario government and the elementary teachers union stay at odds? My guess? To keep the peace and to keep the teachers’ unions happy, Education Minister Kathleen Wynn will end up settling this dispute at the eleventh hour — claiming a victory for the government.

If I am wrong, however, because the government is getting squeezed by teacher union demands, this government will be no different than any other since the late 1960’s.

I will keep readers up to date as new information becomes available.

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H/T regular reader Ann. See her comment from another thread here.

On Sunday mornings, one of the first things I do is read John Snobelen’s column in the Toronto Sun. His topics are usually current and right on target. Today is no exception as he gives a knock out punch to Ontario’s teachers’ unions.

Think back to the period 1995 to 1999. How did the public sector unions, including the teachers’ unions act? On the day the Harris government was sworn in sometime in late June, 1995, I was at Queen’s Park to observe the ceremony. Before, during and after, there was a line of protesters marching around the legislative building screaming, “shame, shame on Mike Harris.”  Remember, that was even before the Harris government had done anything!

Fast forward to 2008. Negotiations have apparently broken off between the government and ETFO, the elementary teachers’ assocation, which wants parity with secondary school per pupil grants plus a lot of other things. And, we find out that the government could be in a conflict of interest with the teachers’ unions due to campaign donations during both the 2003 and 2007 provincial elections.

Yet, there are no protests in Toronto or elsewhere in Ontario. In fact, since the McGuinty government was first elected in the fall of 2003, apart from the CUPE disagreement over the role of education assistants which tellingly was settled just before the start of the 2007 election campaign, what protests have there been?

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Christina Blizzard has an excellent column today about whether or not there might be a conflict of interest between the teachers’ unions and campaign donations in the 2007 Ontario election. If, as she suggests, you follow the money, it doesn’t look good. For example, a number of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) offices contributed to Education Minister Kathleen Wynn’s campaign, as did the Ontario Teachers Federation (OTF).

And, remember, these are the same groups that screamed their way through the Mike Harris years with “Days of Protest” and a two week teacher strike in 1997. So, what does it say to the public when none of that is happening now and hasn’t since the McGuinty government was first elected in 2003? Is it good management and good leadership as the Ontario Liberals would have us believe or is it simply giving the teachers’ unions everything they want? 

Meaning, that there will likely be a lot sabre rattling regarding the current ETFO negotiations, followed by Wynn “settling” and claiming victory. However, let’s not forget what that “victory” is going to cost Ontario taxpayers. Remember, ETFO wants nearly one billion dollars more so that elementary per-pupil grants equals that of secondary students.

But, it doesn’t end there. Scroll down this Ministry of Education (MOE) page. Fourth quarter investment money allocations were $250,000 to OTF and $900,000 to ETFO.

Now, can anyone make a direct link between election donations, contract settlements, grant allocations and peace in our schools? In other words, is there an unofficial “quid pro quo” arrangement? I very much doubt it. However, it should be something PC opposition leader John Tory looks into.

In the meantime, if perception is reality, there is clearly enough of a conflict of interest in this situation that it should somehow be avoided in the future — no matter which political party is involved!

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H/T Doretta Wilson, Exec. Director of the Society for Quality Education & Joanne (Blue Like You). 

Parents of elementary school aged children need to know that talks between the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the province have broken off.  And, the reason they have broken off involves a lot of taxpayers’ money.

Whether it is a justifiable fight or not depends on whose side you are on.  I wrote on this topic here and here. The reality is that per pupil grants to public and Catholic boards of education for elementary aged students has traditionally been lower than at the secondary level. In the past, the argument always was that books and other resources were more expensive at the high school level. But, while that might have been true in the past, with the advent of computers and other learning related technologies, I doubt very much that is still the case.

The other thing ETFO is campaigning on is how much less time secondary school teachers spend in the classroom and, therefore, how much more time elementary teachers spend — and they want parity. And, make no mistake about it, this is about more than time. This is about huge amounts of taxpayers dollars. Remember also, that it was Dalton McGuinty who said he was going to be the “Education Premier” and he brought peace to Ontario’s schools by getting a four year contract and giving the teachers’ unions pretty much what they asked for.

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Yes, you read that right. The Ontario teachers’ unions are receiving taxpayers money so they can lobby government for more salaries and benefits.  And, all the various trustee associations — many of whom have already overspent — are also getting more money so they can lobby for more money.

That hardly seems fair. Here is the government website where all the latest so-called ”investments” have been listed. While some of the expenses could be described as investments in human resources (e.g., job training), the arts and youth, I certainly wouldn’t call funding that goes to union leadership and trustees associations as investments. Those items actually represent some serious spending.

For example, OTF (Ontario Teachers Federation) received $250,000 and ETFO (the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario) received $900,000 — for a total of $1.15 million — while the various trustee associations received $1 million.

Just how, I wonder, are those spending allocations actually investments? Are teachers’ unions and the OTF not already funded through the union dues each and every teacher pays? Are the trustees not already funded under the combined property tax structure and education grants? And, given how many trustees receive on average $20,000 — compared to their alloted $5000 – why does the McGuinty government continue to support them with even more taxpayers money?

In my opinion, teachers’ unions should not be receiving ANY taxpayers money and the trustee associations should ONLY be paid out of existing budgets.

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H/T Cathy Cove with thanks.

As Ottawa Citizen journalist Randall Denley wrote on the weekend, “the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has established bargaining positions that are badly out of sync with the province’s faltering economy.” While I suspect these positions are perhaps over the top because they expect to get only part of what they ask for, it really does show that the union is out of touch with reality.

Ontario is suffering economically. Many people are out of work because of the decline of various manufacturing sectors. There are threats that we might even become a “have not” province within the next couple of years. Yet, according to Denley’s column, here are some examples of what the teachers’ unions are apparently asking for:

• a five-per-cent salary increase in each year of a two-year deal;
• higher starting pay for teachers and one year less to get to top salary;
• class-size reductions and caps in all grades;
• 10 days a year for report cards and assessment;
• a near-doubling of preparation time;
• actual teaching and supervision time to decline to 1,125 minutes a week from 1,500;
• full benefit costs to be covered by school boards; and
• principals and vice-principals to be prevented from teaching.

Now, recall, during the last two Ontario election campaigns, Dalton McGuinty said he was the “Education Premier” because he brought peace to the Ontario education system. Given these expectations of “entitlement,” I question at what cost to the taxpayer and the economy McGuinty is getting that so-called peace. Is he getting peace, for example, by simply giving the teachers’ unions everything they ask for?

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As a retired educator, I recognize that teachers do a good job. As a taxpayer, I also recognize that teachers, whether elementary or secondary, are very well paid with excellent benefit packages (thanks in no small part to teachers’ unions collective agreements). And, I have always been open about the fact that both my husband and I benefit from those benefits.

However, that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when enough should be enough, particularly given the declining enrollment in the public schools in Ontario. For example, in London Ontario, the estimates are that 1100 students will be lost to both the public and Catholic school boards in that city and that type of projection is happening all across Ontario.

So, I have been waiting (since the budget was released yesterday) to see just how the teachers’ unions would react — and for evidence of how the Ontario government was going to pay back the teachers and teachers’ unions for all their help during the recent Ontario election. Well, this morning, I got a hint of what to expect. ETFO, the elementary teachers federation, released a statement on their website titled: “Budget Allocation for Education but More Needed.” 
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I both agree and disagree with former Mike Harris Education Minister, John Snobelen on issues in his column in today’s Toronto Sun.  I agree that the Dalton McGuinty government has achieved peace in our schools by giving in to most, if not all, teachers’ unions demands. I disagree, however, that teacher-librarians are not really needed in school libraries. 

That is a very shortsighted view, to say the least but currently in line with what many school boards across Ontario, and no doubt across Canada, are trying to do — to replace teacher-librarians with library technicians. And, why are they doing that? Not for the good of the children that is for sure. They are doing it for one reason and one reason only — to save money!

Snobelen seems to be suggesting that one way to deal with this situation is through linkages to public libraries and public librarians. How is that possible when most public libraries are already being underfunded (see ‘Bye Bye Books’)by their respective municipal governments? In fact, like school libraries, most Ontario libraries have fewer qualified librarians, more library technicians and reduced library hours of service.  And, let’s not forget, there are many rural Ontario communities that don’t even have a public library within driving distance.
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