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BCTF Strike 2012

mtkb

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I went to private school from K through graduation - the Catholic system, not the take out a second mortgage for St. George's variety - and I could certainly see how teachers in that system would have the curriculum shoved down their throat...

As for the when I was a kid, I got the religous shoved down my throat by my mother and at church every Sunday anyway... by the time I was old enough to think for myself, I did so, and had the help of a fairly religiously cynical father (he was raised in the United Church) to guide me. His take was basically "that's their view, here's the counter-argument, which, by the way, is probably the rational one, but you figure it out".

I realize not every kid has that guidance, but it didnt seem to be an issue for any of my non-Catholic friends. One of my better friends at STM was of the Sikh faith (there were a fair number btw), and he routinely got a better grade in religion than I did. For him, it was just another subject to learn and regurgitate back to the teacher, no more, no less...

All that said, I did get hauled into the vice-principal's office for daring to suggest that an abortion decision should be that of the woman's given that it was her body. Ooooh, they didnt like that one :D
 

G-fence

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Of all the teachers on this thread, how many have attended a BCTF AGM? That is your opportunity to convince the membership and change the plan? Instead you decide to write to the newspapers.

I feel you would have no problem taking any improvements gained by the BCTF. Im not a big union supporter, but you can't sit on the sidelines and possibly help the team!!!!
 

Dude

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Of all the teachers on this thread, how many have attended a BCTF AGM? That is your opportunity to convince the membership and change the plan? Instead you decide to write to the newspapers.

I feel you would have no problem taking any improvements gained by the BCTF. Im not a big union supporter, but you can't sit on the sidelines and possibly help the team!!!!

How is doing what he did sitting on the sidelines? It’s throwing himself into a raging inferno, so far as I can see it!

I am going to hazard a guess that the vast majority of teachers either don’t think for themselves on this topic (I’d say most, who just follow along and take what they get and do as told), are too afraid to speak out, or firmly fall on the side of supporting the union. Just guessing, but I bet the numbers that fall into that range is massive.

Reading the comments on that article, CS is being accused of being selfish; accused of feeding his own ego to coach; accused of feeding his own competitive drive at the EXPENSE of more important issues like class sizes (how they make that comparison is beyond me). Seriously, what I see is a guy who stood up publicly, did not hide behind closed doors, but actually took a side, and decided to make it public for all to see. How anyone makes the comparison that by CS doing what he thinks is right, on his own unpaid time, he’s somehow jeopardizing the union’s ability to negotiate smaller class sizes, is beyond me. Besides, the union has made it very clear that class size is only a small consideration…first and foremost they are concerned about the comp package. Until they drop their unreasonable compensation demands, that will remain the actual truth.

Sitting on the sidelines? Hardly.
 

johnnybluenose

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G-fence, you ask if Captain or others have been to an AGM then automatically assume he hasn't. Poor form. The teachers posting here may or may not have attended. Who are you to assume they haven't before you throw stones from your glass house.

Secondly, the Teaching profession isn't an open shop. Just as any teacher has no choice but to join the union, I'm sure the teachers have no choice when it comes to receiving increases and added benefits. If I were king for a day I'd open that shop up and give each and every teacher the opportunity to choose whether or not they want to join the union. Minimum standards of education and experience would have to be met by either non union or unionized teaching candidates.

Many construction projects through the late 90's and early 00's were "fair wage" jobs that I worked in. You had some contractors that were unionized (Like Mechanical Trades like Sheetmetal, HVAC, Fire Protection, Plumbing. Steelworkers etc) and you had many that were not Like the General Contractor/Construction Manager, the Electrical Contractors, the other sub subs. Back then you could be a labourer for a non union company and get paid $10 an hour for your wage. If you were the same labourer and got on an open shop "fair wage" job your minimum you'd make as a mucky muck labourer was like $21 per hour. For a Non-Ticketed "unskilled" worker.

Would the TF ever go for something like this? Of course not. But I'd like to hear, specifically, why they wouldn't be open to having the Govt open the profession up so that employees had just as much right not to "associate" as they do to "associate"
 

Regs

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The comments there are shoc-king.

I've heard from an unnamed source that he recently lost his cat and only took 1 day bereavement instead of the 5 he was "owed"!

Seriously though, half the people commenting there would get ripped a new one here by TTP posters no matter what side of the fence they sit on this "issue"

I really wonder sometimes where society is headed...
 

STD

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One of my better friends at STM was of the Sikh faith (there were a fair number btw), and he routinely got a better grade in religion than I did.

Now it makes sense your hockey knowledge is CFL based.
When I picked my token Sikh friend I made sure he was dumber than I was..which wasn't easy to do. What was your grad year?
 

One Dart

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Captain hasn't read the comments but I've filled him in on a few of the more comical ones. Cheers Dude for not hiding behind some fake username! Positive response for the most part from what I've seen and in speaking to teachers and coaches at different schools.
 

Captain Shamrock

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A couple of things I will post on here.....First off, I'm not a Liberal.....far from it. Secondly, my self-esteem is okay. Not as low as someone has posted........lastly, this was not an attack on the union or the government. I respect whatever other teachers decide to do with their own time and I made that very clear. I respect whatever side they choose to believe in. It was a letter I felt that I needed to write with NO political motivations. In fact, the only politics I have ever followed are those of the Occupied Six but I won't get into that. Thanks to those of you who have commented and I hope for the sake of the kids, the extra-curricular activities will continue all over the province. It would be a shame if they didn't.
 

trece verde

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The only time I've ever seen CS suffer from low self-esteem was when he lost his bike.

Sure is amazing to see so many people engaged in character assassination of somebody they have never met. I've held off commenting on this nonsense for a long time, but I'm right in the middle of it along with my family. I have worked in the public education system in a union position but I am not a teacher. I did not join a union by choice; I needed a job, and took one that was offered. I stopped working there due to the poisonous atmosphere that was created around the illegal walkout and polarized conditions that both preceded it and followed it.

I have no sympathy for the BCTF and its institutionalized radical political outlook. I also have no sympathy for the redneck so-called "liberal" philistinism that has huffed up its dander against some basic concepts of public education. For those of you who don't get it: Me no like Teachers' Union. Me no like BC Liberals. Me no like gloating NDP and Conservatives leaders either. Got it now? This is where the majority of us live, just like our kids - right in the middle. Our politics are not ideologically based; they are those of common sense. We try to sort through the branded crap and the hectoring and pick those things that actually will do some good from both sides of the spectrum. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of substance right now.

I have two children in the public education system now in high school. I don't buy the elitist approach that says pulling them out of the mainstream is better for them; we all have to go back and work in that mainstream anyway. It definitely doesn't help the state of my wallet either, not that that's relevant. You find a way. I am lucky that I have two reasonably intelligent children who don't require (much) extra attention from school staff (at least any more) other than to find ways to keep them from getting bored. They have both found ways to get involved in extra-curricular activities and sports, both inside and outside of school. I have profound thanks to those members of the teaching profession who have put up with Catorce Verde on his pinball-like journey through school, especially those who have managed to challenge his innate intellect and interests in sciences, music, and cooking, and to those who are now encountering his younger brother, Daemonspawn #2 on his journey through academia. I wish there were more like Captain Shamrock and some of these others who I will not embarrass by naming.

Catorce Verde is graduating this year. At least we assume he will, as do the parents of most students in Grade 12 right now. Kind of difficult to tell when the non-involved faculty members aren't willing to answer emails anymore; not that some of them ever did. He doesn't miss not having all the sports options he would have had if there was a full compliment of faculty members volunteering as in previous years, as he and his younger brother as very heavily involved in community sports as well. What is a kid in Grade 12 worried about? A legacy for kids younger than he is. He is not an angry young radical, but he is definitely learning a very cynical worldview, and I can't say I blame him. What did most of you want out of Grade 12 besides just getting out of it? Graduation. Marks for those who have aspirations for further education. And hopefully a few good memories of the last relatively sheltered time in your life when you didn't have to have all the responsibilities of an adult.

Thanks to two intransigent groups, there is a whole generation of kids stuck being pawns. For me, mediation can't come quickly enough, and I hope it uncovers ALL of the corpses that have been swept under the carpet by both government and its self-proclaimed opposition. I hope the so-called liberals get tossed out on their arses for breaking legally binding contracts and demeaning the value of public education. I hope the BCTF gets de-certified as a union and has to do things on a meritocracy basis. I hope for truly adequate funding for kids who really need help learning, not those with faculty-diagnosed conditions and those who are being groomed to become professional victims. I hope for real integration of communities and schools, with curriculae and teaching practices relevant to this century instead of the 1850s. I hope for a proper integration of technology into classrooms to lower the cost of delivering education. I hope for a proper balance of academic, cultural and especially physical education. I hope kids are taught to love learning, to ask intelligent questions that make the rest of us think too. I hope for a lot of things...

Honestly, I hope my kid gets to have a graduation, like all of us who finished high school deserved and got to have. I really do. I hope your kids get to experience the same thing, too when they get old enough. Don't cheat any of them out of that; they deserve better from all of us.

Keep yer fekkin' politics away from the kids.
 

Dude

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Nice one. I find myself on the same side of the political fence as you, which is to say, I'm lost. Hate the NDP more than any, but can't say I'm excited about voting Lib. The next election scares the shite outta me, TBH...maybe a minority is best for all. Give these idiots a cooling off period.

What did most of you want out of Grade 12 besides just getting out of it? Graduation. Marks for those who have aspirations for further education. And hopefully a few good memories of the last relatively sheltered time in your life when you didn't have to have all the responsibilities of an adult.

I wanted a report card with no "D, E, or F"s. I wansn't very motivated. Biggest priority was making good use of my fake ID and talking to as many strange women as possible at Thursday night Kit's or Saturday night Mardi Gras.
 

STD

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The only part of that I can understand well enough to answer is that last part... 1996...

Graduated in 92 and the common joke was if you wanted to teach at STM all you had to do was play in the CFL. Education suffered but we would be competitive in football. So I was just taking a poke at your education as a reason for your support of the Bruins at the same time taking a poke at myself so you didn't take offence.

As far as for STM, when I went there it was a great school for a sense of community but it didn't have as many options for education or extra-curricular activities. In fact they shut down our soccer team because it took too many students away from the football program.

As for the strike, my mother taught in the Catholic school system, my two sisters are teaching in the public system and my father is as right wing as you can get. Needless to say family dinners are fun so I am looking forward to Easter this weekend
 

oldtimer

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Great post TV, pretty sure that's how the majority feels, unfortunately we know that nothing is going to change for a long time.
 

mtkb

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Now I got it STD... and there is merit to everything you say... besides, if I was going to take offense at the things said to me about being a Bruins fan in Vancouver, yours isnt even in the top 100...

Who did they have that played in the CFL? Lou Deslauriers did, but it was VC that landed Grover Covington... As for soccer, we were told that it was shut down because too many kids were playing metro soccer and not coming out for the school team... Interesting how different people got different exc.... errrr.... rationales...
 

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