Learn.
We here in Ontario find ourselves in the midst of labour strife on the part of our Teachers and this coming Fall looks to become the major battlefront.
From my perspective, education is the most important service that government can deliver for society. More so than health care because our future welfare depends upon a well educated and motivated labour pool.
And yet our education system sucks.
Right now, Ontario spends a little less than $10,000 US per year per child educated ($11,200 Cdn). Although we do not fall within the top 10 nations in per capita student funding, we are on the cusp of qualifying for membership in that club.
The UK, Sweden, Holland and Belgium per capita spending is just over $10,000 and the remaining six countries range from $11,400 to $19,000. (America spends $11,800).
So it is not that we here in Ontario do not devote enough money to educating our kids.
It comes down to how we are doing it or should I say, not doing it.
My daughter is a high school teacher so I have some inside knowledge on what is going amiss.
And dear reader, I am going to tell you what is wrong.
It is just too bad that the teachers themselves – educated as they are – seem most incapable of telling us themselves what is wrong.
So here we go:
- Class sizes are too high - 30+ class size cannot be properly managed;
- Classes include numerous ‘special needs students’ which often disrupt the class and always slow the learning process for the non-special needs children;
- The old core curriculum has been replaced by politically correct studies; and,
- Students are not allowed to fail.
These four fatal flaws come down from on high – that is to say from the Education Commissar in Kathleen Wynne’s Government at Queen’s Park in Toronto.
So much for the Board of Education concern for the welfare of Ontario’s students.
Seems like an easy message for our teachers to communicate; does it not?
And yet the Teachers and more to the point – their Unions seem most incapable of doing so.
For them, it is all about power and more to the point – it comes down to the money – the Teachers’ Union is forever chasing more pay and benefits for its members – despite the fact that teachers on average earn $90,000+ per year plus benefits and pensions that take them well over the $100,000 mark …and this for working less than 9 months a year.
So the teachers are greatly indebted to their Unions. And the Union itself manages a Pension Fund that as of the end of 2014, was worth in excess of $154 Billion Dollars.
You can see why teachers defer to their Unions and why their Unions are more focused on power through rising teacher salaries and benefits.
Given this and the fact that in the Teachers’ strikes over the course of three administrations – Conservative, Liberal and New Democratic, - the children are continually used as pawns in a constant blackmail for more.
So when it comes to the welfare of our kids, it seems clear to me that neither the Teachers’ Unions nor the Liberal Board of Education in Toronto, have much, if any, regard for the welfare of our children.
The Board of Education needs to get back to basics and cut out the politically correct nonsense and the Unions need to be broken up.
In regard to the latter, I would issue vouchers to each student so that they may take their annual allotment to the school of their and their parents choice.
This will in effect privatize education and will result in much better educated students.
Competition is what is now lacking and Competition what is now needed.
As I see it…
‘K.D. Galagher’
p.s. For readers in countries other than Canada – please let me know if you are experiencing the same type of problem with your own school system.
