[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by manwiches

My wife is a teacher in Regina here. Many details out there, but some key things to know

- government was never going to negotiate in good faith. I'm misremembering dates, but prior to the CBA expiring, the government had engaged the advertising company that's run a smear campaign, 2-3 months prior to the CBA actually expiring
- said smear campaign, is painting teachers like all they care about is a raise, and also stating untrue numbers on the raise they are requesting and that they are given. Simply put, teachers are serially underpaid in this country. Period
- my wife could give 2 #####s abouts the pay increase. Sure it's nice, but the issue of classroom complexity is what's at issue, and what the government does not want to put on the table. Fix this issue, and most teachers, if not all, are happy to go back to work.
- What is classroom complexity you ask? I'll use my wife's current grade 4 classroom as an example. She had 29 kids to start the year. Now she has 31. She has 2 children with severe learning disabilities, 5 ESL students, and 2 students with severe behavioural issues. She has an EA that comes 30 min a day. And this is in a more affluent area of the the city. This doesn't account for her messaging parents after hours, marking and inputting grades, dealing with the emotional drain of the day and all this while still trying to plan and teach the other students in her class. She is burnt out every single day, and emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. She loves what she does, but also wants to quit, as it's not doing well for her mental well being.
- The government refuses to address these issues, instead towing a line of inclusivity and bandaid solutions that won't put handling these issues front and center. Teachers are burning out like crazy in this province, as well as the country and States.
- This will seem crass, but truly, kids with issues, learning disabilities, and other learning challenges, should be placed in other classrooms. Class room sizes should not exceed 25 kids. These are just basic things. I have a 10 year old, who tells me all the time how his teacher always has to focus on these other students, instead of focussing on the rest of the class. The other 70% of the class is left to do worksheets, and fend for themselves. My child has lost his love for school at Grade 5, and it's because of situations like this. Teachers are there to raise leaders and contributing members of society. Not pander to the minority. I am not saying that the minority should be forgotten. But there should be other class rooms or resources that they can use, rather than take away from the other 70%, like my child.
- This whole strike and CBA thing has been going on all year. Government and public hasn't really given a crap. Sure, your kids will miss a few days of school, or lunch room etc etc. But with Hoopla being threatened to be cancelled this weekend, GOD FORBID MY CHILDREN MISS THEIR SPORTS. Get a clue.

Anyways, I could go on and on. My wife just wants to go back to work and not be stressed, burnt out, and overworked. Government and the idiot education minister need to get their head out of their a$$

And just to chime in, this is what I have in my classroom pretty much all the time. I have only minimal training to deal with behavior issues, learning disabilities/disorders, psychological issues, teaching to ESL students the nuances of English etc. It doesn't get better at the University level. These students get pushed through a system so that the numbers look okay, but they aren't able to do much once they reach my level, and then they are surprised to discover their grades are poor and they flunk out within a year. Lots of issues with these kids never reaching any potential at all. It sucks. I have my own issues with burnout at the end of every year, and it takes me all summer to get my desire to teach back.

It's not the teacher's fault at the lower levels, it's the absolute lack of any sort of support or funding for teachers to do their job. The more I see these problems, the more I think that most of it could be solved by simply doing the necessary thing of funding and supporting teachers and teaching institutions. What we're doing right now isn't sustainable.