Kids get pretty excited when it comes to school activities. That excitement could well turn to frowns in the coming weeks.
A “work to rule” action threatens to cancel extracurricular plans for students in Ontario. This News according to a recent missive from school did note parents have little to worry about in terms of the health and safety of kids. We believe that, but “work to rule” – in quotations no less?
The abandonment of extracurricular functions stems from the provincial government’s enactment of Bill 115, which side-steps collective bargaining, institutes a wage freeze and reduces sick day agreements. The union sees this job action as a way to demonstrate its displeasure at Premier McGuinty’s legislation.
Some folks will argue school trips are a waste of time better spent in the classroom anyway. For kids however, these trips are indeed rites of passage as they grow from little people to big people.
Seeing our youngsters serving up stone soup to their parents in a Kindergarten class and a day at the Lion Safari gave us a glimpse of how incredibly important good teachers are and how much extras count. The twins’ time at Victoria Terrace concluded with a Grade 6 trip to Crawford Lake, visiting an Iroquoian village – something many kids would never see if it weren’t for extras at school.
Grade 7 saw them head to Sainte Marie among the Hurons, fulfilling more education on native people with the added bonus of staying away overnight.
This year, they were excited for their Grade 8 Quebec trip, an out-of-province opportunity before heading to high school. “Work to rule” has placed that in jeopardy.
Extra Sports after school are under threat as well. Many kids who are not involved in organized Sports have this as their one and only opportunity to learn the merits of Sportsmanship, team spirit and how to win graciously and lose well. The benefits of practice factor in nicely too, instilling the notion that discipline and trying your best are the keys to winning – sometimes anyway.
We have to believe that those special teachers, who do get involved in extras, do so because they are those rare people amongst us who have a gift worth sharing with children. Caught between fulfilling a keen desire to see their students blossom and honouring the mandate of cancelling trips and after school activities established by their union cannot be easy. Teachers have obligations to their union.
As we talked about changes in their school opportunities at home, our 13-year-old daughter wondered aloud, “Why is the government doing this?” Good question, we thought.
The love-in between Premier McGuinty and the teachers’ unions began the day he offered himself up as the antithesis of Mike Harris. Teachers couldn’t get enough of the “education premier.”
Now, all these years later, after hefty increases along the way, the McGuinty government has painted itself into a corner financially. A wage freeze for two years capped off years of generosity with the education system, effectively cancelling what teacher’s had bargained for in good faith.
In another effort at cost containment, sick days were trimmed from 20 days to 10, and the practice of banking those days for a payout at retirement was ended. In McGuinty, teachers felt they had an ally who would not betray them – but he did.
The government is also doing this because of debt pressures, caused in large part by policies and actions that it could not afford. In an ironic twist, McGuinty is now asking teachers to make up for his many financial mistakes made government-wide. Other public sector unions are sure to experience similar treatment, as efforts to wrestle the budget back into shape take place.
Private sector unions have faced similar challenges, as companies attempt to get wages and benefits into a more competitive situation. The difference of course is that the intangible nature of public sector work and the omnipresent ability to tax allows politicians to use a form of math that doesn’t add up.
It seems to us another question should be posed that we haven’t heard from educators or McGuinty: what about the kids? Cancelling important parts of their school year hardly seems fair. After all, this “work-to-rule” is really about fairness … Right?
