BCTF Strike 2012

[Dude]

BA at 19? Law degree at 22? Captain Shamrock's wife used to teach gifted children. She still might. God knows what she sees in that man. She's too young to have taught you but she was the teacher who walked in every morning looking frazzled after an exhausting night of spurning Captain's advances. The guy is a nutter. He literally has a tactical plan of how he's going to get some every night.

It's kind of cool that you find TTP intellectually stimulating and entertaining. Some pretty smart and funny guys on here that probably provide you with as much candor and merriment as the lawyers you work with. Regs is pretty funny. His comment towards Studsup shooting himself in the knee with a nailgun is hilarious. I admire Studs dedication and approach to "reality" and "tactile" teaching. His students learned a lot from watching that event.

DJones and Studsup posting on here sobered a few up realizing that we can't let this get personal. The majority of the teachers are dedicated and true professionals and I have empathy for them as they are targets for some very emotional comments......undeserving.

He hey hey now, let's not get too carried away waxing poetic about Studs...he's a shop and gym teacher, after all. We should all be paying to be Studs for a day, but he gets to take home cake, pension, sick days for cats, and still has 3 months off a year. On his free time? He works out and dabbles in woodworking.

Studs has us all fooled- he is the Utopia. Next best Utopia is being a firefighter.

 

[Tim Berners-Lee]

keep going dude, you are the only one making any sense in here

 

[Tim Berners-Lee]

Everyone should come in here late st paddys sat night and say what they really think

 

[Regs]

Today:

Abbott has said he will appoint a mediator acceptable to both sides when he returns from a trade mission to China later this month.But B.C. Teachers' Federation vice president Jim Iker also doesn't have high hopes for the mediated settlement process either.
Iker says the union will likely pass along suggestions for the independent third party mediator, but says the situation remains unfair because that person can't offer anymore than what the government has decided to give — and that's net-zero.

So it won't make a difference because ... why? Right, it's not about money...

Also from today:

Over the past 30 years, there has only been one successful contract settlement in 2006, when teachers and the government signed a five-year deal that included a 16-per-cent wage increase and a signing bonus worth about $4,000 for each teacher.

For anyone in the know, how did the signing bonus get divided?

 

[girth]

Is it true that some teachers work over 650 hours less than your average person that gets two weeks holidays a year?

 

[eagles]

Regs - not all teachers received the 4000 signing bonus. It was basically for teachers with less than 4 or 5 years experience and it was for harmonization. I was still teaching at that time and I received 0 dollars as a signing bonus. I no longer teach.

 

[Regs]

Eagles, no more teaching? Band elder now?

 

[eagles]

Heg regs - i am not that old !!!! I am now a vice principal. I will still be coaching at Carson Graham in the spring.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

No signing bonus here........

Good to see the Union dues increased by the exact amount per year which the union used to pay the teachers who stood on the 'pamphlet' line($150). You couldn't make this stuff up. Embarrassing times and I'm looking forward to their attempt at striking illegally....or trying to stop extra-curricular. Business as usual for the Devils and our season.

 

[Tim Berners-Lee]

Is it true that some teachers work over 650 hours less than your average person that gets two weeks holidays a year?

yep and they complain about it


All this bs strike has done is informed everyone how good they got it. It's really too bad that there was nothing else a bachelor of science could do for them.

Its not like the students are all failing, complaining that the classrooms are too big and they don't get the proper attention.

Just the cry baby teachers not liking their job.

The money , the only working 2/3rds or the year, the job security, the job safety( a teacher has to be one of the safest jobs in the world) pension...ect....

They have it too good. Problem is , none of them wanted to become teachers.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Tim, you are bitter. You might want to take a deep breath. Seriously.


I've enjoyed reading most responses on here. As mentioned many times before, I enjoy my job and am content and satisfied with everything I have in my job. I do not think we should be able to strike. I do not think districts and unions should strongly discourage teachers from doing extra-curricular activities for the students. I do not think it right that Union should be hiking up our dues to help make up for their 'losses' with recent action. I do know that often the complainers are the ones doing the least around the schools. Every job has people like this. I do know that I was FORCED to join this union when teaching in the public school system and that teaching in the Private School system was not the route I wanted for many reasons. I will continue to vote NO to everything they are planning on forcing us to do and because of this I will continue to do the best I can, like I've been doing for 18 years, and I will continue to coach the kids no matter what numbers are fabricated from the upcoming votes. I allow others to make their choices. They have that right....as do I to some degree.



Ball-baby, did you know I was gifted? Maybe not in the true sense of the word. In fact maybe in any aspect of the word. Where the fcuk was I going with this? Whatever, I'm off to design my next cunning plan to 'get some'. I have one more week of Spring Break to figure it out.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Btw sorry for the one big 'paragraph' but I posted from my phone, which I just learned how to turn on recently.

 

[johnnybluenose]

Captain, most teachers I have spoke with, since I have started learning about the situation, echo a lot of your sentiments you have shared with us here.

You are 100% correct in that this attitude is not teaching industry specific. I am a sales guy for a large contracting and service outfit, amongst our technicians, sales people, PM's and admin staff the low producers tend to be the ones constantly looking for increased time off, increased wages, and guarantees of job security wherever possible, as they want to do the least amount of work and maximize their return all the while looking over their shoulder in fear of the gravy train going off the rails. We are an open shop with some unionized staff and some non union.

"If you don't like your lot in life-you do your best to change it. If you cannot change it, you need to change your attitude & perspective". (Sage advice from my grandad given to me when I got out of high school)

 

[john]

Captain,

Can you please explain why you wouldn't teach in the private system?

To all, would you put your kids in private schools if you had the means? What are the benefits and short comings of the Private schools in people's informed opinions.

I am very discouraged with the teachers strike and job action. You are only a child once and they - the kids - need every bit of the experience while it exists for them, and I don't just mean the fun stuff like athletics.

Thanks,

 

[johnnybluenose]

My Reasons for Private School (which I've enrolled my oldest entering Kindergarten next year) are:
1. Better ability to interact with teacher
2. Better recourse with school if need #1 isn't being met
3. Better allocation of resources than Public Schools
4. Better overall track record in measurable outcomes for learning demonstrated in the past
5. Better ability for the missus & myself to get involved with volunteering/helping in the Private School world than in the Public School world. (field trips, general help during normal days, etc)
6. Religious/Worldview reasons.

 

[Dude]

Captain,

To all, would you put your kids in private schools if you had the means? What are the benefits and short comings of the Private schools in people's informed opinions.

For me it is the religious content of most private schools, which is a no-go for me, even it it were absolutely free. That limits my choices to the Southridge / Southpoint non-denominational type options. Big bucks that I can make a pretty good argument for finding more creative ways to spend money on the kids. Seriously, for the costs they are asking, I could honestly send them away on several student exchanges to Europe or South America over the next few years, some travel, and still have money left in the bank.

To me, the benefits to some of the Private institutions are smaller class sizes, more one-on-one time, and access to specialized teaching methods, extra tutorial, etc. There is also the help some schools provide in US University placement and connections to Ivy league schools. That's a bit of a pie-in-the-sky scenario, but one of our kids deffinitely seems to leaning towards that level of schooling later on, and frankly we'd need as much help as possible on that front- both from a connections standpoint and scholarship standpoint.

As mentioned previously, we've done the tours at Southridge and except for the costs- which are massive- we're drinking the cool-aid. Problem is that the costs are so high it has us evaluating our priorities on a whole.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

John, I taught at a Catholic School my first year of teaching and had a fantastic time with the kids and parents alike. The problem with this particular school was the amount of prayer that particular principal forced upon everyone. Yes, I am Catholic but it became overkill. When I was offered the job for the next year I had to say no because I truly felt religion was being crammed down my throat. The balance wasn't there. I reason I took the job first of all was because the public school districts I was going to get into were not accepting many new applications and I liked the idea of working full-time right away. As for the other Private Schools, of course the class sizes were going to be smaller but I am not the type of teacher/person who is going to give a kid a mark because of the pressure that comes from parents. In the Private Schools quite often teacher are encouraged in certain directions because of who a kid is and who the kid's parent(s) is/are. And besides I couldn't be arsed wearing a tie and dress pants everyday. . My wife taught at a Private School for 4 years before we had kids and some of the stuff going on there was unbelievable. So for these reasons, I choose the public school system. Obviously, this is a terrible time to be a teacher in regards to the BCTF and the government but I will continue to do what I do. Teach and coach kids.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

And to answer your question, John, regarding putting my kids into a Private School if we had the money....no I would not. I believe any kid can get out of school what they put into and the public schools offer everything that is needed to give kids a good overall experience and that includes sports, drama, music, and other clubs.

 

[Bronco]

and the public schools offer everything that is needed to give kids a good overall experience and that includes sports, drama, music, and other clubs.

Except every 3-4 years at contract time when they work to rule.

Hi Cappy!! FTS and FTE...

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Wrong, Bronco.........