Open letter from parent about situation in schools

SooToday.com has received the following letter from a loyal reader and Sault Ste. Marie native now living in Cobourg, east of Toronto.

The writer attended M.J. Dacey Public School and went on to graduate from White Pines.

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First, let me say I do have a stake in what’s going on in the education system in Ontario, having children in both the elementary and secondary system.

I have a daughter in Grade 9 who cannot afford to miss a day of school right before exams - it could mean the difference between passing a class and repeating.

She struggles with most classes.

She is the kid that needs that extra attention that teachers used to provide.

Now the math:

• 52 weeks a year

• Eight weeks for summer break

• Two weeks for Christmas break

• One week for march break

• One week for statutory holidays

• 40 weeks of work per year

• 40 weeks x 5 days per week = 200 days per year

• 200 days x 6 hours per day = 1,200 hours per year

So, a teacher is under contract to work 1,200 hours per year, approximately.

At $75,000 per year this works out to $62.50 per hour.

Yes, I agree that it can be difficult.

I could not do it.

Yes, I agree teachers are important to our standards of living in Canada.

Yes, I agree teachers should be compensated accordingly.

Yes, I also agree the Liberals did a poor job of dealing with the situation.

But I also believe that when the school boards negotiated contracts over the years (increasing pay 25 percent over the past 12 years), benefits, pension [and] sick days, it came with the understanding that although you are not compensated directly for extracurricular activities such as sports or tutoring, the generous pay and time off was the tradeoff.

I do believe that most teachers got into the profession because they enjoy the work and they believe they can make a difference, and that education is the most important part of a child's development.

To me clubs, sports, class trips are as important as any class subject and by denying kids this you are giving up on everything that made you become a teacher in the first place.

I'm not mad at the teachers; they are just doing as they must, listening to a union who has lost touch with reality.

I'm mad at the union for using kids as human shields in their last stand at defending an outdated model to workers’ rights.

Sam Hammond is an activist; he lives for the fight, not for the result.

When the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario announced an illegal strike/day of protest, what they are saying is: "My right to strike is more important than a child's education."

It's time for the teachers to take action - action against a union that is acting like a spoiled child, kicking and screaming until they get what they want.

Things are not that bad, and if everyone does a little bit, things will get better, but we all know they can't continue the way they are now.

Please go back to doing what you love, why you took this career on, why you do this job.

Go back to teaching they kids, go back to coaching basketball, go back to helping those kids that might not make it without that extra bit of help after school.

And if you’re teaching for the money and not for the kids, please just go away.

- Jeremy Coulis

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