“Nobody has the balls to say” that Canadian education, healthcare, justice, and other institutions are collapsing under the weight of well-intentioned but misguided ideologies.
Well I’m glad as hell that Matt and Jen have the balls to say it.
Kudos guys. Great discussion. Have a good Thanksgiving weekend.
As the spouse of a retired Educational Assistant of 25 years all I can say guys is that, with one small exception, you have portrayed the current state of Alberta's educational system (and the mental health system) with extreme accuracy.
She retired in large part because she was tired of being physically and mentally abused by special needs students and their parents with little to no support from administration. This woman has the biggest heart in the world and to watch her interact with most of these students brought joy to me and her.
As the pendulum swung waaaay to hard with the SCC decision we took a system of partial integration that seemed to serve most participants well (my kids, now in their early 40s had some classes and events that were inclusive of all abilities and in other classes the special needs students were given specialized attention or classes and vice versa).
I think this worked well in the socializing of everyone with everyone while realistically managing learning and expectations.
Full segregation had created problems as well in society's empathy for those who were different where those with special needs were "hidden away" when I was a child but full integration has taken away the good from every student. As you note, in classes of 30-40 one or two extreme special needs students will consume 90% the time and focus of the teacher and (hopefully, not always) 1 or 2 EAs whose primary focus isn't learning but the physical safety of the entire class.
When I have broached this with my friends and relatives who are teachers they mostly wholeheartedly agree with what you've said. So do retired teachers, principals, Deans of Education faculties and former school board trustees but ONLY when we chat one on one.
Everyone it seems is in mortal fear of calling out the truth and that is sad. Others seem to have been permanently indoctrinated into political correctness in the education faculties they attended?
I do agree that many teachers are tone deaf to the real world's problems and bring a sense of insular entitlement to most discussions.
Unfortunately when you look to the current school trustee elections the only people who seem like they might want to realign things are also associated with the Take Back Alberta movement and its sub-sets who have many other, less worthy and more worrisome, axes to grind.
The UCP forced the ATA into negotiating one agreement, rather than school division by school division, and they hold the strings of the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) puppet the government created. This provides the union with an opportunity to try and deal with class sizes across the province to maximum effect and "hopefully" when formal negotiations resume on Tuesday that will be part of the discussions. TEBA however cannot negotiate in good faith as every decision has to be approved by Smith or Nicolaides, well really just Smith and David Parker as the Minister doesn't have the cajones to make a decision on his own.
Class size caps have been recommended consistently in Alberta for many years and while it won't fix everything it has been shown to have a positive effect on overall performance.
Teachers were respectfully restrained in Alberta from 2015-2019 and given assurances that work was underway to address their concerns, only to be told FU by Kenney and now Smith.
As such, I support their efforts to improve classroom conditions. In a perfect world the untenability of continued fully integrated classrooms would also be on the table but when the Premier is focused on book bans and transgender athletes it hard to see where an empirical discussion of systemic corrections could even start?
The only point you make I will take some issue with is regards to taxes. While I have some empathy for your position I would note that every property owner (and tenant indirectly) pays property taxes which collectively provides $3.1 Billion (2025) that municipalities hand over to the GoA for education. It matters not whether the owner has 20 kids in school or has never had children. The province generates the other $7 Billion or so of its education budget from incomes taxes, royalties, transfers etc.
Systems where some or all of the money follows the student have been proposed, and usually panned, for years, usually for reasons about universal services access much like healthcare.
Very good discussion, I truly empathize with the situation you're in Jen and I hope all goes well for you and your family.
Hopefully the pain of the strike is eventually assuaged by some systemic improvements and a return swing (just a bit) of the integration pendulum.
I think you overestimate the current influence David Parker has with Danielle Smith.
As for surveys when asked "should more money go to schools and teachers?" consistently the majority say sure. But this being Canada when asked "would you be okay with an extra $500 on the education portion of your property tax bill to pay for it?" the majority say no. In many ways Canada is a game of hot potato in who pays and who is accountable for what people want.
Canadians want to be taken care of by government but want "the rich" to pay for it. Consequences and accountability is what is sorely needed. That's why I support vouchers, the money is for the child, not the system.
Jenn thank you for sharing your personal story and perspective it does bring light to a very serious issue and is definitely the last piece of straw to break the camels back. However teachers are not to blame. Alberta teachers always got paid more than the national average because they teacher significantly more kids than the national average. Yes the ATA is blaming private schools and avoiding the subject, but this is the only time teachers have any power in the conversation. Either cap classrooms like the private/charter schools or pay for the work being done.
If this does not get resolved we will have a mass teacher exodus. Not because of special needs kids but because of the complexities and shear size of class rooms. Yes teachers know they get paid well and have some perks but they also deal with a lot more than what people will give them credit for.
Let's see the exodus then. I've been hearing about this exodus all my life, yet it never happens. Of all my family and friends, it's only the teachers I know who get three months off in summer and retire in their 50s.
So true. To paraphrase the, then, Deputy Minister of Health's comment regarding a threatened exodus of doctors following a 5% pay cut in the early '90s.
When they built Las Vegas everyone said all the whores would move there. We still have whores in Edmonton.
Well is already happening, half of new grads don’t last 5 years and the new grads barely cover retires and those that quit. My kids class last year couldn’t find a teacher so she had 8 retired teachers. It’s so bad they are begging retired to teachers to come work for 2 months a year. If they work longer it messes up there pension. Everyone thinks teachers can only teach sorry but they will be scooped up by corporate companies in a heart beat.
For $120k/3 seasons and full benefits there will be no exodus. The supply and demand curve is met. Of course the next move for the ATA is playing the medical licensing game and basically keeping anyone not an insider out of the system. That way a teacher crisis is manufactured. (Oxford Medical grads are literally being told that they need to "upgrade" to qualify to work in Canada, which is protectionist nonsense for instance)
The licensing body needs to be detached from the union. Self regulated professions are Canadian nonsense you only also see in places like Argentina.
Of course 70% of funding should follow the student to independent schools. It's at a minimum cheaper for the taxpayer than paying 100% for public education. Also, the public system just doesn't deserve a monopoly on taxpayer dollars. Look at Canada's health system where the public system does have a monopoly and see how that turned out.
As long as we live in a country where First Nations Chiefs are treated as more equal than others, a saintly class devoid of consequences for governance actions, of course they will work to stop development including pipelines. If the feds were to say "no pipeline, no grant money because oil is where it comes from" their tune would change quickly. Same with Quebec and equalization and the various payoffs for them to stay in Canada. (FN>Franco>Allo>Anglo)
As for Carney, he told the "Expo 67 Boomers" what they wanted to hear, which is that they and their Canada is better than America and that they are what stops Americanization of Canada. It's absolutely delusional, but again they haven't had to suffer the consequences of their actions, including those economic. He told them noble lies and now is the reality. Those elbows up folks don't have to like it but reality doesn't really care in the end what they think, They will be gone soon anyways and Canada will have to clean up their messes.
Carney and the Liberals understand Central and Eastern Canada better than the Conservatives, warts and all. They know that these folks care more about the US than their own country, but that they have a huge chip on their shoulder a mile wide. (They still use miles and don't see the irony in that). He played them like a fiddle.
As for Canada's elite class not having the balls to say that our institutions are collapsing under the weight of boomer delusions, part of the Canadian ethos is avoiding both confrontation and accountability. It's not "nice" and hard decisions are for Gen Z to make I suppose. Lets just hope Gen Z sticks around.
Jen thank you so much - as a fellow Calgarian mom, my frustration with the public school system (and misconceptions around private school purpose and values) is so frustrating to me as well.
I was wondering - could you possibly share the sources of your data around the demographics of private school families? For instance that the income of private school families is actually mostly below the median, and also about how new private schools that are opening are focused on special needs. I would love to be more informed on the specific numbers and I'm finding it difficult to search. Thank you so much!
More and more American States are offering vouchers. In the amount of your taxes paid for school. Then you apply your voucher to the schooling of your choice. Yes Jen,many of us get very emotional on this subject.
Thank you Jen and Matt. I had the balls,told them what I thought and pulled our son. Suggested to him Trade College,he jumped at it after grade 10. Owns his own company,raising a family and putting food on the table. Making more than his Principal. So many kids are on the wayside,just sad. No one seems smart enough to be ashamed
Thank you for talking about education so frankly. Of all the insane and damaging things we are doing, the insistence on not grouping students by ability is up there.
I came across this piece talking about how as far back as during *actual* desegregation, the exact same fervent hyperegalitarian zealoutry was in full force, with even predominantly black schools for high-achieving children being attacked. These ideas are not "woke" and I feel silly for ever framing them that way - they're very old and very entrenched. The activists in this piece sound indistinguishable from the looniest loons at the TDSB currently dedicated to eliminating streaming and gifted/arts programs
It is choosing mediocrity over inequality. These folks who push for equality treat it like a religion while it is really envy, spite, cultural trauma and yes a bit of not accepting that they could bring in more income to pay for care if they had more discipline. I say this as a parent of neurodivergent kids who require extra care.
The classism arguments over private schools is telling, and Canadians being Canadians just won't tell these people "yes, I earn more and it goes to better for my kids." Some folks are just smarter, harder working, more ambitious and yes luckier.
Perhaps if folks dropped the Netflix subscription and worked a few extra overtime shifts or a side gig they could afford better for their kids on their own dime.
We've already ruined health care in Canada with his obsession over equality, lets not do the same for education.
I am at a loss. Agree with everything Mr. Gurney and Ms. Gerson said. Furthermore, as a collector of fountain pens dating back, way back, to undergraduate studies, I share an interest with Ms. Gerson.
No mention of Dr. Carney advocating for reopening of Keystone which, in the context of the EPA being eviscerated, might fly. Would likely be the death knell for the Alberta separatist movement, at least in the short term.
The ATA rejected two, recommended contracts that were negotiated on their behalf, by their union. The chief negotiator quit. This is about control, not advocacy, on the part of the teachers. They should stay in their lane, go back to work, move to year round schooling and realize no-one voted for them.
For the first time, I felt icky after listening to this episode. This isn’t the teacher’s fault. You are correct that the system is broken, but that goes far beyond the teacher’s. In my eyes, they are the only ones wiling and perhaps able to productively take a stand for our kids. Our government and our school boards need to be accountable. And this bit about special needs kids and how no one can tell them to GTFO is absurd. This isn’t the fault of the student or their parents. Where are they supposed to go? How nice it must be to have the means to send your kids to a private school, but that is not the norm. It is up to the system to provide adequate supports for these kids AND the rest. Let’s also discuss how the majority of special needs kids do not have extreme special needs. They aren’t kicking and biting or attacking. The majority have the capacity to be in a typical social & educational school environment, they just need extra support. It’s this that teachers are fighting for… so those kids can have the staff they need and so can the rest of the classroom. More teachers are integral. Smaller classes. Does the system need to find a better way to educate the severely handicapped? Yes. Without a doubt. But that is not the fight we’re fighting right now. Teacher’s are the ones fighting for everyone else. I’m so grateful that perhaps by the time my third child is in school, he might have a better class environment. He’s the neurotypical one. My oldest has a severe cognitive delay but could function and learn in school with supports (which I had to fight for because her group aid was taken away to go to a severely handicapped new student). My middle child has high functioning autism and sometimes requires a little extra help or guidance, but nothing more than a shared TA in the classroom could provide. My youngest hopefully will have an easier path, and I hope for him that there’s enough teachers and TA’s that his education isn’t impacted. I see it from all perspectives, and I am so grateful our teachers are making a stand. No one else is.
I live in Ontario. I have a school age son, and so do neighbours to one side, and the house past them. They go to three different schools. It’s voluntary segregation, but the effect is the same.
We probably need some kind of judicial restraint movement within the legal profession or it will be imposed from without. I can imagine Ford winning another majority saying, “Aw shucks, we need to make sure we can keep the notwithstanding clause kept on our education legislation because the courts were dumb”
Regarding the teacher strike, there is no strike pay for teachers; not enough money. They are willing to strike because it’s the last resort. No one wins in a strike.
This is mostly about class size and complexity. Totally appreciate your perspective and mostly I agree. Special needs are not supported well. The public system can’t be everything to everyone, time to stop trying. Public schools cannot turn anyone away.
Government, school boards and the Union are on notice that now is the time to start dealing with these issues, no more kicking it down the road. All are responsible, all need to be accountable.
New Canadians who do not speak English or French are underserved. The Feds do not transfer money for their education. Limited time for students is available. Teachers are feeling like they can’t do their jobs well, or safely.
Special needs students lose, but so does every student in the class who doesn’t get enough teacher attention.
Classrooms are overcrowded and under resourced. There are no easy answers. Alberta should have and can afford a robust public system and a system that supports choice.
I disagree with the referendum question being posed by a teacher; but it does reflect that there’s a scarcity issue that can and should be resolved.
These issues are ones teachers shouldn’t have to strike over. Teachers and students have been let down by all levels of management.
Teacher retention is becoming a serious problem that will not improve unless working conditions do. Teacher training requires more input from classroom teachers.
Many citizens are not engaged as they are not parents. It’s too easy to blame teachers.
A redesign of this critical service to children and society at large needs to be part of a National and Provincial conversation.
What is happening in education is actually mirrored throughout Canadian society. A whole lot of chaos, partisanship, ideologies, competing goals and values. A lack of social cohesion and disruption.
The good news is that educators and parents want a system that works!
“Nobody has the balls to say” that Canadian education, healthcare, justice, and other institutions are collapsing under the weight of well-intentioned but misguided ideologies.
Well I’m glad as hell that Matt and Jen have the balls to say it.
Kudos guys. Great discussion. Have a good Thanksgiving weekend.
As the spouse of a retired Educational Assistant of 25 years all I can say guys is that, with one small exception, you have portrayed the current state of Alberta's educational system (and the mental health system) with extreme accuracy.
She retired in large part because she was tired of being physically and mentally abused by special needs students and their parents with little to no support from administration. This woman has the biggest heart in the world and to watch her interact with most of these students brought joy to me and her.
As the pendulum swung waaaay to hard with the SCC decision we took a system of partial integration that seemed to serve most participants well (my kids, now in their early 40s had some classes and events that were inclusive of all abilities and in other classes the special needs students were given specialized attention or classes and vice versa).
I think this worked well in the socializing of everyone with everyone while realistically managing learning and expectations.
Full segregation had created problems as well in society's empathy for those who were different where those with special needs were "hidden away" when I was a child but full integration has taken away the good from every student. As you note, in classes of 30-40 one or two extreme special needs students will consume 90% the time and focus of the teacher and (hopefully, not always) 1 or 2 EAs whose primary focus isn't learning but the physical safety of the entire class.
When I have broached this with my friends and relatives who are teachers they mostly wholeheartedly agree with what you've said. So do retired teachers, principals, Deans of Education faculties and former school board trustees but ONLY when we chat one on one.
Everyone it seems is in mortal fear of calling out the truth and that is sad. Others seem to have been permanently indoctrinated into political correctness in the education faculties they attended?
I do agree that many teachers are tone deaf to the real world's problems and bring a sense of insular entitlement to most discussions.
Unfortunately when you look to the current school trustee elections the only people who seem like they might want to realign things are also associated with the Take Back Alberta movement and its sub-sets who have many other, less worthy and more worrisome, axes to grind.
The UCP forced the ATA into negotiating one agreement, rather than school division by school division, and they hold the strings of the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) puppet the government created. This provides the union with an opportunity to try and deal with class sizes across the province to maximum effect and "hopefully" when formal negotiations resume on Tuesday that will be part of the discussions. TEBA however cannot negotiate in good faith as every decision has to be approved by Smith or Nicolaides, well really just Smith and David Parker as the Minister doesn't have the cajones to make a decision on his own.
Class size caps have been recommended consistently in Alberta for many years and while it won't fix everything it has been shown to have a positive effect on overall performance.
Teachers were respectfully restrained in Alberta from 2015-2019 and given assurances that work was underway to address their concerns, only to be told FU by Kenney and now Smith.
As such, I support their efforts to improve classroom conditions. In a perfect world the untenability of continued fully integrated classrooms would also be on the table but when the Premier is focused on book bans and transgender athletes it hard to see where an empirical discussion of systemic corrections could even start?
The only point you make I will take some issue with is regards to taxes. While I have some empathy for your position I would note that every property owner (and tenant indirectly) pays property taxes which collectively provides $3.1 Billion (2025) that municipalities hand over to the GoA for education. It matters not whether the owner has 20 kids in school or has never had children. The province generates the other $7 Billion or so of its education budget from incomes taxes, royalties, transfers etc.
Systems where some or all of the money follows the student have been proposed, and usually panned, for years, usually for reasons about universal services access much like healthcare.
Very good discussion, I truly empathize with the situation you're in Jen and I hope all goes well for you and your family.
Hopefully the pain of the strike is eventually assuaged by some systemic improvements and a return swing (just a bit) of the integration pendulum.
I think you overestimate the current influence David Parker has with Danielle Smith.
As for surveys when asked "should more money go to schools and teachers?" consistently the majority say sure. But this being Canada when asked "would you be okay with an extra $500 on the education portion of your property tax bill to pay for it?" the majority say no. In many ways Canada is a game of hot potato in who pays and who is accountable for what people want.
Canadians want to be taken care of by government but want "the rich" to pay for it. Consequences and accountability is what is sorely needed. That's why I support vouchers, the money is for the child, not the system.
Jenn thank you for sharing your personal story and perspective it does bring light to a very serious issue and is definitely the last piece of straw to break the camels back. However teachers are not to blame. Alberta teachers always got paid more than the national average because they teacher significantly more kids than the national average. Yes the ATA is blaming private schools and avoiding the subject, but this is the only time teachers have any power in the conversation. Either cap classrooms like the private/charter schools or pay for the work being done.
If this does not get resolved we will have a mass teacher exodus. Not because of special needs kids but because of the complexities and shear size of class rooms. Yes teachers know they get paid well and have some perks but they also deal with a lot more than what people will give them credit for.
Let's see the exodus then. I've been hearing about this exodus all my life, yet it never happens. Of all my family and friends, it's only the teachers I know who get three months off in summer and retire in their 50s.
I do not believe this exodus will happen
So true. To paraphrase the, then, Deputy Minister of Health's comment regarding a threatened exodus of doctors following a 5% pay cut in the early '90s.
When they built Las Vegas everyone said all the whores would move there. We still have whores in Edmonton.
Well is already happening, half of new grads don’t last 5 years and the new grads barely cover retires and those that quit. My kids class last year couldn’t find a teacher so she had 8 retired teachers. It’s so bad they are begging retired to teachers to come work for 2 months a year. If they work longer it messes up there pension. Everyone thinks teachers can only teach sorry but they will be scooped up by corporate companies in a heart beat.
For $120k/3 seasons and full benefits there will be no exodus. The supply and demand curve is met. Of course the next move for the ATA is playing the medical licensing game and basically keeping anyone not an insider out of the system. That way a teacher crisis is manufactured. (Oxford Medical grads are literally being told that they need to "upgrade" to qualify to work in Canada, which is protectionist nonsense for instance)
The licensing body needs to be detached from the union. Self regulated professions are Canadian nonsense you only also see in places like Argentina.
Of course 70% of funding should follow the student to independent schools. It's at a minimum cheaper for the taxpayer than paying 100% for public education. Also, the public system just doesn't deserve a monopoly on taxpayer dollars. Look at Canada's health system where the public system does have a monopoly and see how that turned out.
I do not support the teachers in this strike,at all in Alberta.
I do. They are digging their own grave and the system will be better when teachers are disenfranchised and act as employees, which is what they are.
As long as we live in a country where First Nations Chiefs are treated as more equal than others, a saintly class devoid of consequences for governance actions, of course they will work to stop development including pipelines. If the feds were to say "no pipeline, no grant money because oil is where it comes from" their tune would change quickly. Same with Quebec and equalization and the various payoffs for them to stay in Canada. (FN>Franco>Allo>Anglo)
As for Carney, he told the "Expo 67 Boomers" what they wanted to hear, which is that they and their Canada is better than America and that they are what stops Americanization of Canada. It's absolutely delusional, but again they haven't had to suffer the consequences of their actions, including those economic. He told them noble lies and now is the reality. Those elbows up folks don't have to like it but reality doesn't really care in the end what they think, They will be gone soon anyways and Canada will have to clean up their messes.
Carney and the Liberals understand Central and Eastern Canada better than the Conservatives, warts and all. They know that these folks care more about the US than their own country, but that they have a huge chip on their shoulder a mile wide. (They still use miles and don't see the irony in that). He played them like a fiddle.
As for Canada's elite class not having the balls to say that our institutions are collapsing under the weight of boomer delusions, part of the Canadian ethos is avoiding both confrontation and accountability. It's not "nice" and hard decisions are for Gen Z to make I suppose. Lets just hope Gen Z sticks around.
Jen thank you so much - as a fellow Calgarian mom, my frustration with the public school system (and misconceptions around private school purpose and values) is so frustrating to me as well.
I was wondering - could you possibly share the sources of your data around the demographics of private school families? For instance that the income of private school families is actually mostly below the median, and also about how new private schools that are opening are focused on special needs. I would love to be more informed on the specific numbers and I'm finding it difficult to search. Thank you so much!
More and more American States are offering vouchers. In the amount of your taxes paid for school. Then you apply your voucher to the schooling of your choice. Yes Jen,many of us get very emotional on this subject.
Thank you Jen and Matt. I had the balls,told them what I thought and pulled our son. Suggested to him Trade College,he jumped at it after grade 10. Owns his own company,raising a family and putting food on the table. Making more than his Principal. So many kids are on the wayside,just sad. No one seems smart enough to be ashamed
Thank you for talking about education so frankly. Of all the insane and damaging things we are doing, the insistence on not grouping students by ability is up there.
I came across this piece talking about how as far back as during *actual* desegregation, the exact same fervent hyperegalitarian zealoutry was in full force, with even predominantly black schools for high-achieving children being attacked. These ideas are not "woke" and I feel silly for ever framing them that way - they're very old and very entrenched. The activists in this piece sound indistinguishable from the looniest loons at the TDSB currently dedicated to eliminating streaming and gifted/arts programs
https://open.substack.com/pub/educationprogress/p/hobson-v-hansen-and-the-decline-of
Please keep on this - I have 3 kids and so private school is out, and we have no charter schools in Ontario.
It is choosing mediocrity over inequality. These folks who push for equality treat it like a religion while it is really envy, spite, cultural trauma and yes a bit of not accepting that they could bring in more income to pay for care if they had more discipline. I say this as a parent of neurodivergent kids who require extra care.
The classism arguments over private schools is telling, and Canadians being Canadians just won't tell these people "yes, I earn more and it goes to better for my kids." Some folks are just smarter, harder working, more ambitious and yes luckier.
Perhaps if folks dropped the Netflix subscription and worked a few extra overtime shifts or a side gig they could afford better for their kids on their own dime.
We've already ruined health care in Canada with his obsession over equality, lets not do the same for education.
I am at a loss. Agree with everything Mr. Gurney and Ms. Gerson said. Furthermore, as a collector of fountain pens dating back, way back, to undergraduate studies, I share an interest with Ms. Gerson.
No mention of Dr. Carney advocating for reopening of Keystone which, in the context of the EPA being eviscerated, might fly. Would likely be the death knell for the Alberta separatist movement, at least in the short term.
The ATA rejected two, recommended contracts that were negotiated on their behalf, by their union. The chief negotiator quit. This is about control, not advocacy, on the part of the teachers. They should stay in their lane, go back to work, move to year round schooling and realize no-one voted for them.
For the first time, I felt icky after listening to this episode. This isn’t the teacher’s fault. You are correct that the system is broken, but that goes far beyond the teacher’s. In my eyes, they are the only ones wiling and perhaps able to productively take a stand for our kids. Our government and our school boards need to be accountable. And this bit about special needs kids and how no one can tell them to GTFO is absurd. This isn’t the fault of the student or their parents. Where are they supposed to go? How nice it must be to have the means to send your kids to a private school, but that is not the norm. It is up to the system to provide adequate supports for these kids AND the rest. Let’s also discuss how the majority of special needs kids do not have extreme special needs. They aren’t kicking and biting or attacking. The majority have the capacity to be in a typical social & educational school environment, they just need extra support. It’s this that teachers are fighting for… so those kids can have the staff they need and so can the rest of the classroom. More teachers are integral. Smaller classes. Does the system need to find a better way to educate the severely handicapped? Yes. Without a doubt. But that is not the fight we’re fighting right now. Teacher’s are the ones fighting for everyone else. I’m so grateful that perhaps by the time my third child is in school, he might have a better class environment. He’s the neurotypical one. My oldest has a severe cognitive delay but could function and learn in school with supports (which I had to fight for because her group aid was taken away to go to a severely handicapped new student). My middle child has high functioning autism and sometimes requires a little extra help or guidance, but nothing more than a shared TA in the classroom could provide. My youngest hopefully will have an easier path, and I hope for him that there’s enough teachers and TA’s that his education isn’t impacted. I see it from all perspectives, and I am so grateful our teachers are making a stand. No one else is.
The last segment reminded me to hug my sons.
I live in Ontario. I have a school age son, and so do neighbours to one side, and the house past them. They go to three different schools. It’s voluntary segregation, but the effect is the same.
We probably need some kind of judicial restraint movement within the legal profession or it will be imposed from without. I can imagine Ford winning another majority saying, “Aw shucks, we need to make sure we can keep the notwithstanding clause kept on our education legislation because the courts were dumb”
Regarding the teacher strike, there is no strike pay for teachers; not enough money. They are willing to strike because it’s the last resort. No one wins in a strike.
This is mostly about class size and complexity. Totally appreciate your perspective and mostly I agree. Special needs are not supported well. The public system can’t be everything to everyone, time to stop trying. Public schools cannot turn anyone away.
Government, school boards and the Union are on notice that now is the time to start dealing with these issues, no more kicking it down the road. All are responsible, all need to be accountable.
New Canadians who do not speak English or French are underserved. The Feds do not transfer money for their education. Limited time for students is available. Teachers are feeling like they can’t do their jobs well, or safely.
Special needs students lose, but so does every student in the class who doesn’t get enough teacher attention.
Classrooms are overcrowded and under resourced. There are no easy answers. Alberta should have and can afford a robust public system and a system that supports choice.
I disagree with the referendum question being posed by a teacher; but it does reflect that there’s a scarcity issue that can and should be resolved.
These issues are ones teachers shouldn’t have to strike over. Teachers and students have been let down by all levels of management.
Teacher retention is becoming a serious problem that will not improve unless working conditions do. Teacher training requires more input from classroom teachers.
Many citizens are not engaged as they are not parents. It’s too easy to blame teachers.
A redesign of this critical service to children and society at large needs to be part of a National and Provincial conversation.
What is happening in education is actually mirrored throughout Canadian society. A whole lot of chaos, partisanship, ideologies, competing goals and values. A lack of social cohesion and disruption.
The good news is that educators and parents want a system that works!
Here’s hoping for a good result for everyone.
First of all, sorry to hear of the challenges Jen (and parents like her) are having. And have had.
Second, there is a related experience in BC. With our own children and many friends, education here has also precipitously declined.
I could tell many stories, I'll just say it's a serious problem. It is very unlikely our kids will go to public school for these reasons.