Get Back To Basic Education

There seems that a majority of people are only drawing one line. That is between the Government and the Teachers. We hold the Government 100% accountable, but maybe it is time to look down the line and see where the money the government does give our school system is spent.

We have the union leaders who are making far too much money and all they do is cause trouble. Then we have the Administrators and the school board trustees. Ron Rubadeau is probably making to much money for the mess that school district 23 is in. So school administrators and union leaders are making money, while the teachers pay the union leaders from their paycheck.

Since 1993, the union has not had too much success with negotiations. Lets do some math (that is if there are those that still know how out there) 42,000 teachers paying approximately $1,000 a year in Union dues that equates to 42 million dollars to the BCTF. Has anybody cared to ask what the Union does with this money besides line the pockets of the Union Leaders?

They could do what they need to do just on interest alone. The teachers would have more money in their pocket if they did not have to pay union dues, and the government would have more money if they didn't have to keep paying for court time. The Unions have put blinders on the general public, but especially those who are in a union. Maybe the union needs to give back to it's members. The system as a whole needs to be raked over and restructured. It doesn't matter what big company you work for, it always seems to be "top heavy". The ones that do most of the work as the ones that are not getting rewarded.

We talk about our children's education. Class size is important. But do you not think that educating our children and making them accountable for their education is important too? Five years ago it was decided that teachers couldn’t fail a child or give them an incomplete in a subject. Steps are needed to give a child an incomplete, but even when these steps are taken it is still frowned upon. What does that teach our children?

It tells them that they can go to school each day, fool around and be lazy the teacher cannot fail them or discipline them (that has also been taken away) they can graduate at a grade 5 level, then maybe if they are lucky they can find a union job and hide under the wing of the union and get paid union wages for knowing nothing. These children cannot function properly in the real working world.

Then we have Mr. Rubadeau and trustees, that seem to still want to make life simpler for the students. First it was not to fail them, then it was a later starting time, now personal lap top computers. These children will never learn how to write properly, spell properly or be able to add numbers in their head. Lets get back to the basics in education. This school district was given millions of dollars in August and where did our school board spend the money? $800,000.00 for lap top computers and that is just for a start. There was a teacher saying that his books and teaching material is out dated. Hmmm this money could have been applied to teaching materials, maybe even to teacher assistants, special needs teachers, given raises to teaches or even hired more teachers to reduce class sizes.

Our teachers do deserve a raise, as they are the ones that help shape our children's future, but give them back the tools to teach. Stop modifying the system, it was not broken before let the teachers do their job. Save money from the top down, not the bottom up.

Z.A.