03-12-2003, 07:52 PM
"Low" compared to what?
The last study I checked ranked Ontario teachers as the third highest paid in the world, behind two different cantons of Switzerland.
Granted, that study was in 1998. And of course I'd like to see updated numbers, but the situation certainly can't be as bad as OISE is suggesting it is. I know doctors and lawyers who would love to make what teachers do. I think that OISE's document is pure propaganda (not that Ontario teachers haven't had experience fooling the public, of course not).
From a non-teaching perspective, I find it hard to explain the teachers' repeated gripes. They strike every two years (ostensibly "for the students", though it's clear as to how their education is suffering). They whine about reduced preparation time (other professionals don't get any - they use personal time, meaning they get almost no spare time of their own). They cry about having to administer standardized testing (which is the only way to stop the illiterate high-school graduates we've had in the past). All the while, getting three months of virtual holiday a year.
It looks a lot like they don't want to work too hard and resent the government trying to make them.
I am not saying that it's the case. But it looks like it.
The teachers' union likes to blame lower student scores on the current government. They like to point fingers at the budget cuts and say, "We told you so." But the fact is that poor public school student scores have been Ontario's problem for a lot longer than the current government. They've existed for several decades, through administrations of all three major parties. And education has been a major recipient of money throughout that time. Yet despite the money, there's very little result. I don't think money is going to solve the problem.
I agree we'll be in for a rough ride, but better a rough ride now with hope of improvement in the future, than simply sailing along the way we were before, ignoring the waterfall up ahead.
The last study I checked ranked Ontario teachers as the third highest paid in the world, behind two different cantons of Switzerland.
Granted, that study was in 1998. And of course I'd like to see updated numbers, but the situation certainly can't be as bad as OISE is suggesting it is. I know doctors and lawyers who would love to make what teachers do. I think that OISE's document is pure propaganda (not that Ontario teachers haven't had experience fooling the public, of course not).
From a non-teaching perspective, I find it hard to explain the teachers' repeated gripes. They strike every two years (ostensibly "for the students", though it's clear as to how their education is suffering). They whine about reduced preparation time (other professionals don't get any - they use personal time, meaning they get almost no spare time of their own). They cry about having to administer standardized testing (which is the only way to stop the illiterate high-school graduates we've had in the past). All the while, getting three months of virtual holiday a year.
It looks a lot like they don't want to work too hard and resent the government trying to make them.
I am not saying that it's the case. But it looks like it.
The teachers' union likes to blame lower student scores on the current government. They like to point fingers at the budget cuts and say, "We told you so." But the fact is that poor public school student scores have been Ontario's problem for a lot longer than the current government. They've existed for several decades, through administrations of all three major parties. And education has been a major recipient of money throughout that time. Yet despite the money, there's very little result. I don't think money is going to solve the problem.
I agree we'll be in for a rough ride, but better a rough ride now with hope of improvement in the future, than simply sailing along the way we were before, ignoring the waterfall up ahead.