Solidarity with Sask Teachers

[spotthefan]

Niche, perhaps. But want to jump on and say to any possible Sask Teachers on here that I and others in Alberta stand in solidarity with you right now as you push through perhaps the most difficult part of the job action, cancelling extra curricular events that are widely popular.

And for Alberta, take note. It is coming.

Edit:

For clarity for anyone who is unaware. There is a currently labour conflict betweent he Sask Teachers Federation and the Sask government. Teachers was class size and complexity negotiated into the contract and government doesn't.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...dget-1.7149219

[SutterBrother]

Given the number of Roughrider fans, more teachers in Sask are def needed.

[marsplasticeraser]

Kind of blows me away that the Sask teachers are striking because they want fewer students in their classes.

Like their grievance is they want to be more effective teachers, and they can't do that with so many kids.

Looking at my kids classes here in Calgary and they are 28-31 kids. It's a lot of rowdy kids and education must be compromised with such large class sizes.

Seems really easy for a government to agree to cap class sizes, I don't get why they are resisting?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

Kind of blows me away that the Sask teachers are striking because they want fewer students in their classes.

Like their grievance is they want to be more effective teachers, and they can't do that with so many kids.

Looking at my kids classes here in Calgary and they are 28-31 kids. It's a lot of rowdy kids and education must be compromised with such large class sizes.

Seems really easy for a government to agree to cap class sizes, I don't get why they are resisting?

Smaller classes means you need more class rooms, more teachers, more general staff, more costs. You can't keep corporate taxes low if you do that, which means you can't keep your buddies happy who reward you.

[spotthefan]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Smaller classes means you need more class rooms, more teachers, more general staff, more costs. You can't keep corporate taxes low if you do that, which means you can't keep your buddies happy who reward you.

Exactly. The government even tried to say "look we put the funding in the budget, get back to work."

Until next year when they slash it again.

[spotthefan]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

Kind of blows me away that the Sask teachers are striking because they want fewer students in their classes.

Like their grievance is they want to be more effective teachers, and they can't do that with so many kids.

Looking at my kids classes here in Calgary and they are 28-31 kids. It's a lot of rowdy kids and education must be compromised with such large class sizes.

Seems really easy for a government to agree to cap class sizes, I don't get why they are resisting?

Very right.

I wrote my (UCP) MLA today because I have a concern about teacher shortages...but no body is talking about it outside of schools.

Teachers are choosing to leave teaching rather than deal with high class sizes and, frankly, a drastic amount of kids mostly aged 10+ that have behavioural and mental struggles.

On a daily basis we are short 1-2 teachers with no subs. It means others in the building are covering, if possible. This means no admin to lead the school or no PE or no fine arts.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by spotthefan

Very right.



I wrote my (UCP) MLA today because I have a concern about teacher shortages...but no body is talking about it outside of schools.



Teachers are choosing to leave teaching rather than deal with high class sizes and, frankly, a drastic amount of kids mostly aged 10+ that have behavioural and mental struggles.



On a daily basis we are short 1-2 teachers with no subs. It means others in the building are covering, if possible. This means no admin to lead the school or no PE or no fine arts.

Yeah this is exactly what my (now recently former) teacher buddy and his wife were saying when I saw them over Christmas. Sounds like teacher shortages are an issue coast to coast, very concerning. I'd imagine teachers having to give up prep time covering for a class with no sub is also contributing to teacher burnout. It's just making it worse.

They've both since left the profession, my buddy has an office job now (loosely related to his degree) and seems so much happier, said he has no work stress anymore. He was such a grump when he was still teaching.

I think when people hear about teacher strikes, they just assume it's about money and roll their eyes. From what I can see, they get paid fairly well, I doubt that's the issue. Sounds more like large class sizes / extra admin work through new policies contributing to burnout (yes yes, outside of July/Aug of course). Said they had around 40 students / class by the end (high school). I don't think people realize how bad it's gotten.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Yeah this is exactly what my (now recently former) teacher buddy and his wife were saying when I saw them over Christmas. Sounds like teacher shortages are an issue coast to coast, very concerning. I'd imagine teachers having to give up prep time covering for a class with no sub is also contributing to teacher burnout. It's just making it worse.

They've both since left the profession, my buddy has an office job now (loosely related to his degree) and seems so much happier, said he has no work stress anymore. He was such a grump when he was still teaching.

I think when people hear about teacher strikes, they just assume it's about money and roll their eyes. From what I can see, they get paid fairly well, I doubt that's the issue. Sounds more like large class sizes / extra admin work through new policies contributing to burnout (yes yes, outside of July/Aug of course). Said they had around 40 students / class by the end (high school). I don't think people realize how bad it's gotten.

There are massive shortages in many public industries. We don't have enough GPs, nurses, teachers, judges, paramedics, etc... and things aren't much better in the private sector.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by blankall

There are massive shortages in many public industries. We don't have enough GPs, nurses, teachers, judges, paramedics, etc... and things aren't much better in the private sector.

In the private medical, educational and judiciary?

Things seem to be far better. I'm not sure about shortages, but there have been anecdotes in other threads of nurses leaving front line AHS jobs for double the pay and half the work at private clinics...

[calumniate]

In my grade 12 year they striked in calgary with extra-curricular so there was no football, etc :/
Then in the spring term there was soccer and I totally missed out on registering. Played a lot of hacky sack though!

[blankall]

Originally Posted by you&me

In the private medical, educational and judiciary?

Things seem to be far better. I'm not sure about shortages, but there have been anecdotes in other threads of nurses leaving front line AHS jobs for double the pay and half the work at private clinics...

Public bodies are being forced to pay nurses more. Due to shortages, they are forced to offer existing nurses overtime. Some have figured out how to game that system. If done properly, you can work, for example, only call shifts that automatically pay overtime. And private clinics, both locally and in the USA are poaching Canadian nurses with higher salaries.

You can definitely make a mint right now as a nurse. If you need medical treatment in Canada, that's a different story.

[Fuzz]

If only someone had warned us allowing more private care in Canada would worsen the public system...the good news is that our tax dollars still pay them. I guess.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

If only someone had warned us allowing more private care in Canada would worsen the public system...the good news is that our tax dollars still pay them. I guess.

It’s pretty remarkable how simple everything is for you. Every issue just seems so easy / straightforward with only one right answer.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

It’s pretty remarkable how simple everything is for you. Every issue just seems so easy / straightforward with only one right answer.

Well when warnings and experts are ignored for decades, then exactly what they warn us about happens, it's called connecting the dots. Sorry that's so complicated. There may not only be one right answer, but there are clearly wrong ones. You know, things you hire experts to write reports for so you can presumably avoid them. And yet, here we are. Again.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by blankall

Public bodies are being forced to pay nurses more. Due to shortages, they are forced to offer existing nurses overtime. Some have figured out how to game that system. If done properly, you can work, for example, only call shifts that automatically pay overtime. And private clinics, both locally and in the USA are poaching Canadian nurses with higher salaries.

You can definitely make a mint right now as a nurse. If you need medical treatment in Canada, that's a different story.

Right... I was mostly just poking at your post 1) green text for judges in the private sector (though I suppose those qualified to be a judge may have better opportunities at a law firm) and 2) you said "things aren't much better in the private sector.", which they clearly seem to be, across the board... Nurses, doctors, teachers... working less for the same (or in some cases, significantly better) pay.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

Kind of blows me away that the Sask teachers are striking because they want fewer students in their classes.

Like their grievance is they want to be more effective teachers, and they can't do that with so many kids.

Looking at my kids classes here in Calgary and they are 28-31 kids. It's a lot of rowdy kids and education must be compromised with such large class sizes.

Seems really easy for a government to agree to cap class sizes, I don't get why they are resisting?

lol. Those were the class sizes (even up to 35) through the early 80s and 90s when I was in school. Every single teacher in Canada knew those were the class sizes before their first day in the education program at university because they went through school with those exact class sizes.

The government is resisting class size reductions because of all the additional costs associated with reducing them. You'd need more buildings, more staff, etc. Plus, this works. Always has and always will.

As for kids' mental health issues, those have always been there, but we just have names for a bunch of them now that we didn't used to have. People haven't changed.

[2ArmBands]

Question:

When have classrooms not had 28-31 kids. This was the norm for me when I went to school 20 plus years ago. I don't think its ever changed? Nor has teachers threatening "cancelling of extra curricular activities" as leverage to get what they really want.

Same old song and dance.

[btimbit]

I seem to remember low 20s being the norm for me going to school (90s, 00s) but most of that wasn't in Calgary I guess

[Azure]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Question:

When have classrooms not had 28-31 kids. This was the norm for me when I went to school 20 plus years ago. I don't think its ever changed? Nor has teachers threatening "cancelling of extra curricular activities" as leverage to get what they really want.

Same old song and dance.

From how I remember school, 30 kids per classroom would have been pretty decent.

Most of the time we had more.

The bigger issue I see as someone with family members who are teachers is how disrespectful, rude and loud kids are, and if there are no rules in place for phone usage, that is a big problem as well.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I seem to remember low 20s being the norm for me going to school (90s, 00s) but most of that wasn't in Calgary I guess

Where would that be? I’m same timeline, not in Calgary, and was always 28+. Small town?