June 2013, Now Having Taught For 24 years

Now it's June 24 and there are four days of school left, five if you count the staff meeting on Friday. This has been a somewhat unusual year because of the uncertainty and conflict created by the Ontario government's stripping of our contracts.

Bill 115 was passed hurriedly at the end of August 2012 and set the stage for the upcoming school year. It described unprecedented unilateral contract changes that, in the name of "balancing Ontario's books" simply robbed each and every teacher of their negotiated rights and their hard-earned cash.

At stake was the retirement gratuity, a two year wage freeze and a change to the sick leave plan. The hardest hit were our younger teachers with less than ten years experience. As it turned out, all of their banked sick days were paid out at a rate comparable to highway robbery.

I squeaked under the wire with more than 20 years service and at the time of this writing still will receieve a retirement gratuity.

There were two major rallies in Toronto. First one was last August before classes began, where about twenty thousand people gathered on the lawn of Queen's Park. Later, in January during the Liberal leadership convention, a larger and more boisterous rally was held. This rally was a reaction to the implementation of the controversial Bill 115, which arbitrarily set the terms for teacher contracts until August 2014.

As described earlier, every teacher felt the impact of Bill 115, and resentment toward the government was at an all-time high as Laurel Broten continued to tell stories to the media and complain about how she was "so disappointed" in the teachers for not cooperating with the government. (Government. "We gave you a nice gun. Why don't you want to cooperate with us and pull the trigger?) In the weeks after, teachers sought to hold a one-day political protest and walk off the job. However, this was taken to the OLRB and was deemed to be an illegal action after 24 hours of deliberation.

A pathetic political move was made when Broten announced that Bill 115 was to be repealed shortly after contracts were imposed. Broten was soon out of a job and disappeared off the political stage immediately. Just like John Snobelen 16 years earlier, her "educational toolkit" had the wrong tools in it.

Teachers continued to express their dissatisfaction with their situation by pulling back from all voluntary activities - anything that is not specified in the Education Act as pertaining to their duties. In most schools that meant that all extra-curricular teams, clubs, and activities were stopped.

At Parkdale, I chose to not spend thirty hours of my weekends and evenings to design our annual year book. I came to work 15 minutes before the opening bell. I ensured my students were dismissed safely at the end of the day and then I went home. I used my preparation time to prepare my lessons and my report cards. And when I was not at work, I was not at work.

Throughout this spring of 2013, things progressed slowly. Over the course of this year I sent out 95 email updates to our school staff. We were surprised when OSSTF suddently came to an agreement with the government, putting extra-curriculars back into the high schools. But ETfO members forged on, pursuing our own interests in solidarity. We had made our voices heard through the rallies and through our collective action, and we won the right to sit down with the new premier Kathleen Wynne. For the past four months negotiations have been taking place and yesterday marked the end of the voting period where members voted YES or NO to the "Memorandum of Understanding."

We await the announcement of the results of that vote.

Now, there is a great sense of relief in the air as the year draws to a close.

One highlight of the MOU is the promised 2014 removal of the 2% penalty which was imposed on ETFO members' salaries in 2008. Another interesting item is the bonus of a day's pay if less than five of the eleven sick days are used next year. Only one of three unpaid days will remain. Teachers may apply for, and not be unreasonably denied, up to five unpaid days of leave.

At the presetn, we're in a situation where each teacher has 11 sick days, and no opportunity to carry them over, and no incentive to not use them or to save them. We are facing daily supply teacher shortages unlike any other year. It's because of good conscience, good morals and teachers' commitment to the profession and one another that our schools continue to function almost normally in these final few days of classes.

Our principal of the past four years, Peter Maliphant, is moving on to A.M. Cunningham, and we will welcome our new principal Stewart Cameron on Friday. Peter has been a very decent man to work with. I have found him reasonable and approachable. On many occasions I've been able to support him with computer issues that had him confused.

As far as the graduating class goes, they have been a very good bunch. I taught almost every one of them in grade two. It is deeply satisfying and intriguing to see them grow up and to develop into young adults with a wider and deeper range of skills and abilities. This class of graduates is the third group of grade fives that I previously taught in grade two. My original grade two class from 1998 is now completing grade eight.

Tree Planters Drum Kit

The Geographical Cure

I think I've written before about my idea of spending an entire August camped out in Algonquin Park or some other equally remote place.

A trip like that would be nice in solitude, but not necessarily alone. Solitude to me means no interruptions, and a basic lack of external, cultural, transmitted content. Especially the type that comes through the radio, TV, internet and newspaper. Being alone is not the essence of the Algonquin Park idea; it is media solitude.

You see, beginning in the first week of August, every retailer or any business with something to sell begins to wrap their marketing message in some kind of "back to school" camouflage.

It's true. In our culture, everyone is attuned to the moving of the seasons. But the seasons are no longer characterized by the changing weather; no, they're characterized by what you need to buy based on what needs you and your family might have. For example, when it's winter time, everyone needs to start thinking about buying spring fashions. February brings an onslaught of Valentine's Day stuff. Family Day. Easter. Mother's Day. Father's Day. The tourism ads kick in throughout the springtime as families make their summer plans.

But there is always the biggest wave of cultural season change in mid-summer. After the Civic Holiday long weekend something in the atmosphere changes. You can feel it like a silent, lurking monster standing outside the door and about to barge in at any moment. Or, imagine an entire dance troupe waiting in the wings for their silent cue to rush on stage. Such a potential, and such predictability.

Yes, it's like that. As if on cue, all the media begin to deliver the message: "Back to school this, back to school that, blah,  blah, blah, back to school."

And if there's one thing that really grinds my gears, it's that idiot dad prancing through the Staples store to the tune of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" with his bored and disgusted kids in tow.

I think I know why the whole back to school season change bugs me so much. It's because I feel robbed of the entire month of August. You see, I don't need to be reminded about my classroom's needs that will be facing me in September. Perhaps fifteen or twenty years ago I would agonize over this and that, and consider going back into work mid-August to pin stuff up or whatever. But not these days. I'll think about school after Labour Day.

So, my plan is to remove myself from the reminders. Take the Geographical Cure, and head off to a place where there is no radio, TV, internet or newspaper. And I'll pick up my companion, my collection of  summer reading, my most comfortable lawn chair, and head out into the wild. That's what will cure me.

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