Several years ago the school board I worked for locked us out. I have empathy for what teachers in other jurisdictions are going through as we spent a month locked out. We were fine. Kathy worked and we have few bills, but many others were set back by the actions which amounted to non-momentary issues i.e. class size, working conditions, and being treated as professionals. One of the underlying issues is our schools have become too large and resemble factories rather than institutions where teachers and students gather in community. There is a distancing in the very relationship that is vital to children’s education as opposed to their schooling. When I went to school, schools were embedded in the community. Today, sadly they are separate with economic and political agendas that do not meet the needs of local communities.
“Why are teachers even bothering to picket,
when you aren’t getting strike pay any more?”
he asked.
I told him it was because teachers are moralists
who are defending democracy
and fair working & bargaining conditions
against a corrupt government:
A government that ignores the court rulings
spends billions of tax payers’ dollars appealing
judgments by the Supreme Court
and the United Nations saying they
are WRONG to steal from our kids.
It will pay billions for a stadium roof,
but will not pay for educating its children.
I told him that in such a war,
pay is a small thing.
We will fight, because if our government
succeeds in destroying OUR union
then every other working person in this province
is in peril.
If OUR contracts can be shredded with impunity,
so can YOURS!
We are fighting for YOUR rights
and for our students’ right to a funded education
against a government with an…
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Thanks Ivon for sharing Shawns posting!
You are welcome Wendell.