It’s approaching 4:30AM. I’ve been up since 1AM due to
an attempt at an early and full night’s sleep gone wrong, and also being awoken by a pretty massive
overnight rainstorm. But now I’m lost in thoughts, mercilessly scrolling
through my Facebook feed, and I’m completely dumbfounded by what I’m reading.
Those of you who might consider yourself regular
followers, likely remember a very frustrated rant about my previous time “home”
in Canada. Now, it seems, I need to have another lengthy discussion with my
beloved home… but a little more narrowed in its direction.
For as long as I can remember Nova Scotia (my home
province, which many of you have probably never even heard of…), has struggled
to maintain the contracts and considerations of two of the most important jobs
in the province: nurses and teachers. Over the years, I have witnessed
government after government try to tackle the fickle balance of fair pay and
what makes sense, financially (meaning, what the province can afford to spend
on these essential services). And, almost every time, the government wins.
Now the business, fiscally responsible side of me,
sees, what I hope to be, the government’s point of view. It has to make sure
it’s not spending beyond its means. I mean, we’re so far in debt now as it is,
it hardly makes sense to continue to grow that amount. BUUUUUTTTTTTT, on the
other hand, I appreciate my free education and (basic) healthcare. So, anytime
these situations begin to resurface, I become more and more thankful that I am
not a member of the government. (Note: the entire teacher's situation is not so much based on money, rather than improved support services that will allow them to provide better education to their students... or at least that's my understanding.)
Recently tensions have been brewing, yet again,
between the Province and its teachers. And just like all the other times this situation has surfaced, several people seem to be up in arms about
how outrageously overpaid they are (considering they get summers off!), how
they don’t care about the children they’re supposed to be educating, and my
personal favourite – calling them overpaid babysitters. Now, anyone who has
ever gone through the public education system and had at least one good teacher
can tell you, this is pretty ridiculous. But, it’s justified because they are threatening to take action. The ‘they’
being the teachers.
When I was in my final year of junior high, this same
scenario was taking place. The government at the time was dealing with the
headaches of contract negotiations, and they weren’t going as planned. Myself
and many of my fellow students decided to take action of our own, and staged a
walkout. When the bell rang to start the day, instead of heading inside, we
marched to the high school (which was clearly
the logical thing to do) in protest. It was my one and only public protest, and
likely will remain so, because in all honesty we accomplished nothing except
for losing a day of classes and preventing the very people we were trying to
support from doing the thing they were fighting to do.
Back to present day. As a form of protest for all the
extra time teachers give from their day and away from their families, instead
of striking, they made the decision to enact a form of protest known as Work-to-Rule.
This means that teachers would arrive at their respective schools, teach their
classes, use their free period to prep for the day/week/whatever and correct
assignments, etc., without doing anything beyond the minimum. The cost of following through
with this is that lunch time extra-help or after school recreational activities
would not be attended by the teachers, amongst a much longer list of things
that they actually do aside from teach. Makes sense to me. It’s fair. …or at
least as fair as this situation provides. I mean, what other public sector
position goes beyond the 9-5 hours it boasts? I can’t think of many. Mine certainly
didn’t.
But the Province wasn’t pleased with this. It decided
that children would be in harm’s way, and that their safety was important. So,
instead of allowing students to attend classes, as usual, and get some amount of
education, they decided to close all schools across the province. Oh, but only
to the students. Yeah, teachers are still required to report for duty, as usual.
And, this is slated to take place until the teachers decide to back down,
causing the government to win, yet again.
The funny thing, is that yes, money is an important
issue here, and overspending is bad. BUT, doing this is only hurting the
students (you know the tiny folks the government claims to be concerned about!).
How is keeping them out of school better than having them in school, with limitations? Yes, I understand the argument of the
potential lack of supervision, but surely the myriad of parents who are
standing behind these teachers would volunteer an hour or two a week, or any
number of community members could just as easily help out.
I get that this is not a simple issue. It’s complex.
Like… VERY complex. If the government gives in, then something else has to
budge within their jurisdiction. But, is it really fair to ask these
individuals – these hardworking, passionate, caring folks to set aside their
personal lives, their families, their wellbeing, just to give the government a
helping hand?!
In the same way I was thankful to not be a participant
in the recent US election, I’m am really glad I am not one of the decision
makers behind this difficult, yet troubling situation. If I were, I honestly
wouldn’t know where to start. The teachers I have had in my life have directly
shaped who I am today. Sure, not all of them were splendid, but the ones who
were extraordinary made up for them. And there were many in the latter
category. They supported and encouraged me, they helped me hone my creativity
and imagination, they challenged my way of thinking and built on my curiosity,
and they somehow even made mundane topics interesting (or at least tried
to!). I’ve had numerous teachers push me to explore my writing talents (and all
pretty much told me to work on my editing skills, which applies just as accurately
today!) and chase my then musical dreams. I’ve had teachers come to concerts, fundraisers, and other extracurricular
events (and I’m not just talking while
I was their student, either). I had the overwhelming experience of having
several of my favourite teachers attend my mother’s funeral to support me, even
though I hadn’t been their responsibility in years (many, many years!). I had a
teacher in high school, who took my passion of “Africa” to a whole new level
(as in, more than just the Lion King, or lions more generally!) and is a good part of why I eventually
took the direction I’m currently headed on. I even had a teacher who prevented
me from making a permanent and desperate decision. Who could have looked the
other way, but didn’t. Who got me the help I needed. And every day I have lived
since, I am thankful he didn’t let me follow through with that act (even though
I hated him for it at the time). Also, my amazing step-dad happens to be a
retired teacher…
Teachers are one of the most important and influential
people in our young lives. One teacher can change everything. One teacher saved
my life, a good number afterwards helped to keep me that way. We can’t give up
on them. We can’t treat them as any less important than any other crucial role
in society. We need to sort out a compromise. Because without them, that ‘everything’
can quickly become nothing… and we’ll all suffer.
So, I ask that you rally behind these amazing folks.
Show them your support. Even if you don’t have children in the system, if
you’re from Nova Scotia, you likely were a product of it. Write to your MLA,
the media, or the big guy, himself (as in the Premier, not the other big guy!). Tell them this isn’t
acceptable. Tell them you want to see change. Tell them a balance, a
compromise, needs to be found. And then maybe, we won’t have to go through this
ever couple of years. And maybe we’ll reap the benefits down the road, in the
form of young, hopeful minds, who are passionate and critical, and can write in
cursive writing, with good grammar. We need this.
Well said Em! Support the teachers!!!!
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