Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-05-06, Page 10Page A8 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, May 6, 2009 "Opportunities multiply as they are seized." -- Sun Tzu Grassroots Rural Retreat presents... RjiraRRgmblTings View our Online Newsle r: ,rww.grassMootsretrcatcentre.ca /ramblings May & June Is: "The Roots of You" Jan us as we celebrate our Mothers & Fathers and the glorious change of season. Dive deep into the roots of you and discover other tips on Gardening & Eating Well. 45,774, Enter for your chance to WIN a gift just for you!! Go to our online Ramblings newsletter and enter your name in our "Just for Me' monthly draw with this code: MAYNews 736 Bruce Road 86 East of Lucknow - 519.528.2210 f� l'or isMaylO Enjoy these favourites... Balsamic chicken and Portobello Lasagna Atlantic salmon with chipotle cream sauce Mediterranean stuffed chicken All specials served with your choice of soup or house salad, rice or pasta, vegetable of the day and dessert $20'95 Reservations Recommended and Appreciated SPECIALS AVAILABLE 12 Noon -9 pm Regular menu available 92 The Square 524-7337 celebrate remember fight back RELAY FDR LIFE RELAY RELAIS FOR LIFE POUR LAVIE t:.n.diae Vaawk c,wr., c++wtwe». bnt irvy de towel in Huron County (Goderich) June 19 - 20, 2009 Goderich District Collegiate Institute Get your team together and take turns walking, running or strolling around the track to make cancer history. For more information or to register a team, visit cancer.ca/relay call 1 800 294-0086 or visit the Toronto Dominion Bank in Goderich to pick up your Team Captains' kit Bell Event Sponsor Alme•agolar tAcistIOR Medi. Sponsors Boston Plea Vanden Heuvel Structures Supporting Sponsors • A celebration of survival, a tribute to the lives of loved ones and a night of. fun, friendship and fundraising to beat cancer. . Teachers' Union releases attack -ads, sign agreement Stew _slag Pr the signal-stur Around the negotiating table, labour harmony arrived last week between the Avon Maitland District School Board and its elementary teachers. In news- papers around Huron and Perth Coun- ties, however, a full-page advertise- ment from the teachers' union told an entirely different tale. "Why do Grade 4-8 students in the Avon Maitland District School Board have to sit in the second largest classes in Ontario?" asks the ad from the El- ementary Teachers Federation of On- tario (ETFO). "It's a disgrace and it's hurting your children's education." "They targeted us. The ad was spe- cifically structured for the Avon Mai- tland and Bluewater (Grey and Bruce Counties) boards," said Avon Maitland trustee Doug Pratley, when asked about the ETFO ad. At a regular meeting Tuesday, April 28, Pratley and fellow trustees approved a four-year collective agreement with the local chapter of the union. Coupled with a teacher ratification vote May 1, it brought to a close a protracted, oc- casionally high-profile series of nego- tiations. The pre-existing deal expired Aug. 31, 2008. At one point last year, the ruling McGuinty government imposed a deadline on ETFO and school boards, informing them that, if the deadline wasn't met, the province would provide only enough funding for two-year deals instead of the expected four-year pacts. That deadline passed and the province said it would stick to its word. Eventually, however, the Education Ministry renewed its four-year com- mitment and imposed a new deadline for the end of April. The Avon Maitland deal, which came in conjunction with a separate deal for elementary supply teachers, was achieved just priori() that new deadline. "This deal benefits my members as well as the local community," said Kim Finlayson, president of ETFO's Avon Maitland occasional teacher local, in a news release. "My members are receiv- ing improved working conditions and funding for professional development. Avon Maitland parents can be confi- dent that high quality student learning will continue on an uninterrupted basis because of the work of qualified pro- fessionals who feel they are respected by their employer." That feeling of respect, however, wasn't evident in a Full-page advertise- ment appearing a week earlier in area community newspapers. A campaign on local radio stations accompanied the newspaper ads. The campaign accused the board of failing to use provincial funding for its intended purpose. "The Avon Maitland District School Board has been given money by the province to reduce class sizes but the trustees of the board have refused to spend it on reducing class sizes in Grade 4 to Grade 8," states the news- paper ad. Merlin Leis, president of ETFO's main Avon Maitland local, confirmed the campaign was a local initiative within the union. "The centralized bargaining of is- sues has been beneficial in many ways, because it 'Allows the province to set priorities for spending. And they're the purse -holders, so that has been helpful," Leis said. "However, locally, some needs tend to be sacrificed. And we found that with the class size is- sue." Research revealed average Grade 4-8 class sizes in the board are 26.9 stu- dents per teacher, compared with a, pro- vincial average- of 24.5. The new col- lective agreement -calls for a reduction in the board's average class size by 0.1 students per year, but Leis says that's inadequate. He added that the local union "held off as long as we could" on sending out the ad, in hopes that further con- cessions could be achieved from the board. But, a couple of weeks before the final deadline, it became apparent that would not happen. "We wanted to inform the communi- ty, we wanted to inform the parents, we wanted to inform the ratepayers that the money they're providing through their taxes is not being spent as it's meant to be spent," he said. Pratley disputed both the class size figures used by the union and the in- terpretation of the intended use for the particular envelope of Education Min- istry money. "Their numbers are inaccurate," said the Stratford trustee, referring to the Grade 4-8 class size concern. "I think one needs to factually look at what's in the ad before you make a judgment on what they're saying." He added that the money referred to by ETFO wasn't specifically targeted at reducing class sizes. Rather, boards were required to invest it in "student achievement." "And we use it for student achieve- ment. What (ETFO) is not accounting for is the fact that we support our Grade 4 to 8 teachers with the resources they need to encourage student achievement, such as literacy and numeracy support, special education support and support for students with special needs." Responding to Pratley's interpreta- tion, Leis said, "quite frankly, the argu- ments made by the board leave some- thing to be desired." Needless to say, with the collective agreement finally signed almost a year after the previous deal expired, there's still plenty to discuss around the nego- tiating table — as the two sides begin to think about the end of this new deal on Aug. 31, 2012.