Thursday 17 May 2012

We all need to just vent sometimes.

I need to vent.  I figure since this is MY blog, I can put MY opinions on here.  When I started this blog I didn't intend on voicing any opinions on here, but I just want to YELL about some things for making me so mad.

Yesterday, my son came home from school with a note.  Yes, I got mad at a note sent home from school.  Very mad.  And Zane wasn't even in trouble!  Let me be perfectly clear here, I think teachers are great, and we need to appreciate them, but, I have had it up to my eyeballs with all their stinking whining!  It started out with them asking for a 12%, yes 12% pay increase in one year.  They went on strike to try and get it.  They didn't get it thank goodness.  What better example to teach our children than if you whine about something enough, and stop doing your job, you will get a raise? (can you tell that was sarcastic?)  I fully support the job that teachers do, however, what other job could you name that would ever get a 12% pay increase in ONE year???  They did get an increase, I believe of around 5%, which is nothing to sneeze at either.  I remember it being an amazing deal when I was working EMS (as part of a union) and we got an increase of 3% each year for 3 years. Anyhow, I am veering off topic, this note had nothing to do with that.  What it did have to do with, was the school board WHINING about how they didn't get a big enough increase in funds allocation in the last provincial budget.  Excuse me?  They even go so far as to outline for us exactly what we should say to the government and how to contact our MLA or Premier and complain about this travesty.  They put the onus on the parents to WHINE and complain to get their way now?  They say the bulk of this increase is going to come from the division's anticipated growth of 500 students come fall.  It is going to put a strain on the budget to teach the new students who will require "additional language support" meaning they don't speak English.  They tell us that our division must "spend extra money to meet the needs of these children".  They talk about eliminating full day Kindergarten and going to half days as one cost cutting measure. When we were deciding what school Zane should attend, one of our biggest deciding factors was which school had full day classes!  The other nearby option had only half day Kindergarten, which for us, was not an option. I don't believe a child can learn to his/her full potential in just a few hours at school.  If they are thinking they can cut Kindergarten to half days, they must be placing little value on Kindergarten learning.  When Zane comes home at the end of the day and I ask him what he did at school, he almost always says "we played".  The teacher assures us that they actually do learn things, and I'm sure they do, but would playtime make up half a day? It better not! That is not why I send him to school!

I have been taking a very active role in providing my child with a solid well rounded education including everything from reading, to math, to science and everything in between, and I will say that as a family we are very interested in politics and elections and how the government works.  As such, Zane has gotten interested and actually watched the provincial leader's debate with us last election, and even got to meet the Premier.  We try not to show bias to any one political party, though I am sure it is obvious whose team we are on.  We don't force our beliefs on anyone, however I have heard nothing but WHINING and complaining from teachers about the SaskParty and Brad Wall and how he is the devil.  What has the SaskParty government done so wrong to make teachers so upset?  Oh, that's right, they didn't give in to their childish demands.  I am sure as individuals, teachers are smart, but as soon as that UNION gets involved, they are sheep.  They all join together and try to make the rest of us feel like we are devaluing them if we don't support them.  They were even willing to spread filthy rumors in the school that it is all The SaskParty and Brad Wall's fault if the school year doesn't include a February break, since it was mandated that the school year shall not start before the Labor Day long weekend.  Really? How much school work is actually done in those 2 or 3 days before the long weekend anyhow? It certainly can't be a full week's worth. Take those days as your prep days and be happy to enjoy one last long weekend before you work for how many days now?  A whole lot less than the rest of us!  How many other jobs get an entire summer off?

It isn't that I don't totally appreciate the job that teachers do, I just think they need to stop whining so much about their job, start enjoying it again, and stop making it other people's jobs to stick up for them when they don't get their way.  I know people may not appreciate what I have said here, and they are totally entitled to their opinions, as I am mine, and my opinion is that sending this note home from school was crossing a line.




"Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. "
-- T. S. Eliot


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