The Citizen, 1997-10-15, Page 33THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15,1997. PAGE 33.
Bill 160 prime topic at Madill SAC meeting
By Amy Crawford
Citizen co-op student
With Snobelon no longer minis
ter of educa
tion, who
knows what's
in store for
the education
system. But
on Oct. 8 at
the meeting
hosted by the
Student Advi
sory Council
(SAC) in the
library at F.E.
Madill Secondary School, the topic
on most people's minds was Bill
160.
After hearing from student coun
cil reps and others on general top
ics, Librarian Jerry McDonnell, the
Ontario Secondary School Teach
ers Federation (OSSTF) rep, began
discussion of Bill 160.
Using an overhead entitled "A
Teachers Perspective," McDonnell
presented questions on many of the
major concerns. The reason to
protest the bill McDonnell said
was, "because many changes may
go through and teachers will not get
any say."
A strike has been looked upon as
a last resort for the teachers.
McDonnell said, "This bill is dis
mantling public education, making
it unworkable. More students will
start going to private schooling if
they can't get quality education
from the public education system."
He also outlined points for con
sideration. The bill will increase
class size though the government
refuses to give numbers. There
will be more privatization of
schools, no time to prepare for
classes and poorer quality pro
grams. It will erode special learn
ing classes, and take away the
rights of trustees to have any say in
how money is spent."
Teachers, he said, haven't been
able to tell students too much
because they do not want to politi
cize them. "This is between us and
the provincial government,"
McDonnell said.
He explained that there is now
only $14 billion in the budget with
$1 billion cut last year. If the gov
ernment is going to cut $1 billion
from the education budget, he said,
there will be a loss of teaching
positions. The government is say
ing 4,400, most think around 6,000,
the teachers feel it will be about
10,000 lost jobs, said McDonnell.
There will also be a loss of seniori
ty rights and prep time, larger
classes than the present 28-35.
Although the teachers think prep
time is not one of the largest issues
it is important, McDonnell said.
For students it is the time when
they can find their teacher to get
extra help, catch up on missed
assignments, and take tests that
they missed. Teachers need it to
fulfill students' needs, to make up
lesson plans, photocopy, meet with
other teachers, parents, and talk to
students. And while they have
their prep time another teacher is
teaching the students.
Another issue is cutting out pro
fessional development days. Many
teachers use these days to look at
new material to better their teach
ing strategies, and they need to
learn about new curriculum
changes as a group McDonnell
said.
For teachers, he said, the school
day doesn't begin at 9 a.m. and end
at 3 p.m. Most teachers are at
school by 8 a.m. if not earlier.
They prepare for classes, talk to
students and other teachers, and
because e-mail is used as a method
of communication they spend time
on computers getting memos and
other valuable information. After
dismissal teachers take this time to
speak with students, and to prepare
for the next day. There are also
staff meetings held at this time.
Most teachers do not leave until
4:30 p.m. in the afternoon, McDon
nell said, while some stay longer
because they are involved in coach
ing.
The day doesn't stop then either
as most teachers do the bulk of
their marking at home averaging
one to two hours daily.
Principal Wayne Tessier said
what scares him about the bill, "is
that it takes a lot of power away
from local decision makers and
moves it essentially to provincial
government. The government is
telling us to accept the changes but
is not telling us what to accept.
The details aren't there."
"In order to figure out class size
the government takes the education
staff, including the principal and
vice, the guidance councillors and
the library workers who have no
formal classes, and divides the
number of students into the number
of teachers. This leaves us with
about 37 kids per class. In special
needs classes where there used to
be 15 students now there are 25. In
OAC classes there are 35 to 36 stu
dents," Tessier said.
Mary Ann Cruikshank, president
of District 45 OSSTF said, "The
government is doing a lot of back
tracking. For example a few weeks
ago Snobeldon said that he never
said he was going to cut $1 billion,
and Harris said the school boards,
teachers unions and teachers could
n't be trusted to deal with educa
tion. When asked about this
statement, Huron MPP Helen Johns
said, 'He didn't say that."'
Cruickshank also said that the
teachers are going to fight for the
children and for education.
Madill teacher Lou Alexander
said "I really love teaching and I'm
really scared for the kids, and I am
offended that parents, teachers and
trustees are not to be trusted. If in
the end we do not win I will feel
good about at ieast trying."
Some in the audience were visi
bly moved by Alexander's outpour
ing of feelings.
Bob Pike SAC president, said
that the teaching profession lacks
vision. He suggests an expert at the
top has vision and the teachers
should follow "blindly."
In defense, Tessier said, "Change
is a given. Most changes arc in
order to improve but how are we
going to change, with vision? I
have yet to hear a vision. The talk
of outcomes and quality are noth
ing but meaningless empty phrases.
The bottom line is if you want to
talk about a vision, lay it down so
all parties involved understand."
"The government has sterilized
power, and provided a divide-and -
conquer process to separate teach
ers and students. We are not
Wescast, we do not refine a piece
of metal, we try to refine a process
because we work with people, with
different needs. The basic element
is human interaction and that's what
makes the system strong."
In an interview following the
announcement that Snobelen had
been replaced by David Johnson as
education minister, McDonnell
said, "We'd like to think everything
is now going in the right direction
but we are unsure. We are looking
al this with guarded optimism that
things may be changing but we
have to wait and see this week to
hear what the new minister has to
say."
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