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Question about the teachers strike


yawn.3x

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Hello friends! I feel bad because i'm currently studying to be a teacher in university and I know theres a strike going on, but I actually know very little about it. Just bits and pieces. I was hoping someone kind enough could enlighten me?

1) Why're the teachers on strike atm anyways?

2) What're their demands? I hear some people saying they want a $5000 signing bonus? I've heard of that for sports teams, but never for a teacher lol. (Like I said i know VERY little)

3) Is Christie Clark (Klark?) actually giving parents $40 per child under the age of 13 or 14 can't remember per day kids are out of school?

Thank you guys! Not trying to cause drama just want to understand it better.

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Hello friends! I feel bad because i'm currently studying to be a teacher in university and I know theres a strike going on, but I actually know very little about it. Just bits and pieces. I was hoping someone kind enough could enlighten me?

1) Why're the teachers on strike atm anyways?

2) What're their demands? I hear some people saying they want a $5000 signing bonus? I've heard of that for sports teams, but never for a teacher lol. (Like I said i know VERY little)

3) Is Christie Clark (Klark?) actually giving parents $40 per child under the age of 13 or 14 can't remember per day kids are out of school?

Thank you guys! Not trying to cause drama just want to understand it better.

This is one of the worst places to ask about contentious issues like the teachers' strike.

This board is most likely going to have members aligning themselves with one side or the other. Therefore, depending on which posts you read first (or not at all), you're going to get some skewed, biased and possibly misleading information.

The teacher's strike is not nearly as simple as being "the teachers are right". It's also not as simple as saying the Government is right.

Truthfully, the system that houses both these players are flawed. Regardless of who's right or wrong, the students are always the ones that are affected. Both sides claim to be helping the students, but in reality, their own priorities are more important than students. Students are just an afterthought.

Something to consider - why aren't students involved in the mediation process? They should be given spots to discuss with reps of the Government and the union.

BTW, this isn't a generalized bash at teachers themselves. I've met a lot of great teachers individually. But the 'representing voices' of both sides are playing chess matches against each other.

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1) Why're the teachers on strike atm anyways?

Fighting for lower limits to class sizes and conditions on classroom composition. Things that teachers had the right to bargain for but had illegally stripped from their contract 12 years ago.

2) What're their demands? I hear some people saying they want a $5000 signing bonus? I've heard of that for sports teams, but never for a teacher lol. (Like I said i know VERY little)

Very common in large negotiations. Especially the negotiations that go past the expiry date of a contract. The signing bonus is like retro-pay to make up the time between the last contract expiring and the current one being signed.

3) Is Christie Clark actually giving parents $40 per child under the age of 13 per day kids are out of school?

Yes

Hope that helps.

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This is one of the worst places to ask about contentious issues like the teachers' strike.

This board is most likely going to have members aligning themselves with one side or the other. Therefore, depending on which posts you read first (or not at all), you're going to get some skewed, biased and possibly misleading information.

The teacher's strike is not nearly as simple as being "the teachers are right". It's also not as simple as saying the Government is right.

Truthfully, the system that houses both these players are flawed. Regardless of who's right or wrong, the students are always the ones that are affected. Both sides claim to be helping the students, but in reality, their own priorities are more important than students. Students are just an afterthought.

Something to consider - why aren't students involved in the mediation process? They should be given spots to discuss with reps of the Government and the union.

BTW, this isn't a generalized bash at teachers themselves. I've met a lot of great teachers individually. But the 'representing voices' of both sides are playing chess matches against each other.

Not true at all.... the teachers are right.

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1) Why're the teachers on strike atm anyways?

Fighting for lower limits to class sizes and conditions on classroom composition. Things that teachers had the right to bargain for but had illegally stripped from their contract 12 years ago.

2) What're their demands? I hear some people saying they want a $5000 signing bonus? I've heard of that for sports teams, but never for a teacher lol. (Like I said i know VERY little)

Very common in large negotiations. Especially the negotiations that go past the expiry date of a contract. The signing bonus is like retro-pay to make up the time between the last contract expiring and the current one being signed.

3) Is Christie Clark actually giving parents $40 per child under the age of 13 per day kids are out of school?

Yes

Hope that helps.

Thank you! Gave you a +1 for what it's worth. Wow why're some people so harsh. It was just a general question... Sorry I don't keep up to date with the news. Don't know if I'm being trashed or not about being a teacher... but whatever I want to be a good teacher and that's what I'm going to strive for regardless. Sorry If I upset anyone it wasn't my intention :(.

If it is for just smaller classroom sizes that seems fairly reasonable... Back when I was in grade 7 I think we had 35+ students? Thinking back I actually feel kind of bad that 1 adult had to deal with 35 students for 6 hours a day 5 days a week. Especially when we were JUST entering our teen years.

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The main issue is class size, composition, and more special needs help.

All these jack@$$es who think it's all about money are wrong.

For the government it's about money for sure. For the teachers it's mostly about money, as they want compensation for their hard(er) work, but class composition is a big part of that work.

As for becoming a teacher, my suggestion? Don't. There are currently way too many teachers for the amount of jobs in this market.

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As for becoming a teacher, my suggestion? Don't. There are currently way too many teachers for the amount of jobs in this market.

This is unfortunately accurate. You will likely emerge with tens of thousands in debt, and no real job to speak of. Don't think you'll make ends working as a TOC (average is $12-15,000/year), even if you are lucky enough to get hired on immediately (some do not).

Don't expect to teach in the city of your choosing. Don't expect to teach your subject area. The faster you want to get hired, the faster you'll give up on location and subject.

Three years out of the program and I still make significantly more at my "second" job. Sadly, it feels more like teaching is a hobby I'm desperately trying to hold on to. Now, the job I do have that pays well is not a job I enjoy, but it keeps a roof over my head. If you can find a secondary job that balances well with teaching, consider yourself lucky. It took me a year to get set up well with a secondary job, and that involved a lot more luck than I want to admit. The downside is, if you take a second job, it will make it much more difficult for you to accept any part-time teaching contracts that do come up, because your evenings and weekends will already be committed to your other job. Unless you don't sleep, good luck finding the time for planning, marking, contacting parents, staff meetings, etc.

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The Teachers dispute is part of a bigger debate surrounding the Discrepancy between Public Sector & Private Sector workers in terms of salaries, pensions, extended healthcare and other benefits. This fall the Federal Government..... Podcast http://moneytalks.net/article-and-commentary/michael-campbell/mikes-daily-commentary/13394-the-big-battle-looming.html

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For the government it's about money for sure. For the teachers it's mostly about money, as they want compensation for their hard(er) work, but class composition is a big part of that work.

As for becoming a teacher, my suggestion? Don't. There are currently way too many teachers for the amount of jobs in this market.

That is inaccurate. They were willing to significantly cut down their salary demands if the government would budge on the class composition/sizes. They didn't.

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