Awe, they just need a hug

And a raise…

Of course Richard Giroday, President of the Prince George District Teachers Association would say that B.C.’s public education system is stressed to the maximum and continues to be underfunded.

Of course he would say that!

Have you ever known anyone from the BCTF to say anything different?

Im sure the teachers would “settle” for more staff (thus smaller classes or more teachers per class, in lieu of a raise. Get serious Hart Guy, when you went to school the classes were nothing like today…you wouldn’t last till recess as a teacher. You would look like Arnold in Kindergarten Cop…”IM HART GUY YOU EEEDIOTS, sit down, shut up, first lesson is keep right except to pass!”

sqrlly, funny this is, I have several very good friends that happen to be teachers. They seem to enjoy their work and have very little to say in a negative way!

Of course, if you listen to the BCTF, each and every single teacher in the system is swamped, over-worked, under-paid, overwhelmed with special needs students, English language students, etc! Every single teacher!

Of course there are some that are in over their heads, just as there are others who are cruising through quite comfortably. For those that have it so bad that they are stressed to the maximum, then they should do what has been suggested and that is get a new job, find a new line of work!

I have commented that I don’t like being forced to pay taxes to support and/or subsidize our public sector worker’s pension plans, even though I am a self-employed business owner. Those on this site that support the teachers have suggested that I should have found a new line of work, perhaps in the public sector so that I too would have a pension.

If it’s good enough to suggest that I should have found a different line of work, then it’s more than fair to suggest that teachers who are overwhelmed, stressed out, under valued, etc should also consider a new and different line of work! Wouldn’t you agree?

Also, I find it interested that you would state that you are sure the teachers would “settle” for more staff (thus smaller classes or more teachers per class, in lieu of a raise! You are sure of that? What makes you so sure of that? I ask because the vast majority of any increase to the Provincial Education Budget always seems to end up in the teacher’s pocket, rather than on smaller class sizes! Kind of a “pay me more and I’ll do a better job” situation!

And I don’t like my taxes paying for an immoral war or subsidies to multinational oil companies, but they do and I live with it. So, try living with tax dollars being spent on something far more worth while than bombs, namely educating the young. While you’re at it also try living with paying a decent wage to highly educated and skilled workers, that’s right, workers. Because teaching is work, no matter what you think
And no, I don’t work for the government and don’t belong to a union; I’m a self-employed business person just like you, someone who works in a very competitive field and likes what they do. I don’t have anything to complain about and neither do you. Never begrudge someone else’s good fortune – some day it may be yours.

We all know Hart guy hates unions.. Guessing he pays minimum wage and loves the idea of TFW.. But he refuses to acknowledge any good teachers do because they belong to a union.. Even though I am sure his business relies on unions..but he just would rather employees be minions.

Actually P Val, most teachers are just like the rest of us, trying to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay! I also believe that most teachers do a good job, IN SPITE of their Union! Are you aware that some teachers would actually prefer to get rid of the BCTF and instead opt for some other sort of professional association? You should ask around!

What I take issue with is some lame representative from the BCTF or the PGDTA getting up on their soapbox to try to justify their existence! Unions long ago stopped being concerned about their members and instead have become a self-serving entity that cares only about itself and it’s very existence!

My business does not rely on unions and I am fortunate that I do not have to deal with unions! Anybody that has ever done any work for me has always been treated fairly and compensated the same way! I’ve never paid anyone minimum wage and if I need to hire someone, I have no problem paying them what they are worth. Thankfully, if I am unhappy with the performance that I receive for the dollars that I spend, I am able to severe the working relationship.

As far as TFW’s go, I hope that you voice your displeasure to the polite friendly TFW that takes your order and pours you a coffee the next time that you go to Timmie’s for a coffee! I’m sure that you will make his or her day!

Cheers!

P Val, I just finished reading a pretty good article on the damage that was inflicted upon this country by Trudeau Senior. You seem to be an awfully big fan of Justin. You mentioned the TFW program and I suspect that you do not like it!

So, it’s a bit off the topic of this thread, but how do you feel about Justin wanting to bring in 25,000 or so Syrian refugees, people that will need food, shelter, medical care AND ultimately jobs! Do you consider them to be in the same category as our current TFW employees? Any concerns that some or any of them might try to take your job?

Richard Giroday of the PGDTA seems to think that our education system is stressed to the max and continues to be underfunded. I wonder if he has concerns about a massive influx of people, all of them needing taxpayer support and some of them being children who will need to go to school, all of which will place an even larger burden on maxed out taxpayers and will add even more stress to our stressed out education system?

Any thoughts?

Hart guy I know a special needs teacher, you should hear her horror stories. So you are the teacher in the story should just suck it up then?

Krusty what subsides? So you are okay with green blob subsidies then?

P Val, I was just about to get back to some paperwork, when I glanced at the headline of this thread, “The Next Time You See a Teacher Say Thanks”.

Giroday of the PGDTA concluded his message by encouraging everyone in the room that the next time they see one of the district’s approximately 1,000 teachers, that they say “hi, thanks for the great work.”

I wonder if Giroday has spoken to his membership to encourage them that the next time that they see one of the districts many taxpayers, that they say “hi, even though you may not make as much as I do, and even though you may not enjoy the benefits and pension that I do, and even though you may have to work outdoors in the rain, the mud, the snow and ice and away from your family, and even though you may be struggling to make ends meet, and even though you do not enjoy anything remotely close to the comfortable lifestyle that I enjoy, thank you for continuing to pay your property taxes, school taxes and income taxes so that I can have a decent job!”

P Val, do you think that Giroday has done that? Perhaps you should call him up and suggest that he does! After all, teachers want to feel appreciated and so do the people that foot the bill for our education system!

Hmmm, as Slinky suggested, maybe we all need a hug!

Back to work! G’nite!

Whoa, shi* just got real in here…good points Hart Guy. I suppose I jumped to the conclusion that you were putting down the teachers and not their grandstanding messanger. Now Ive got no way to work in my other favorite Arnold line…
“Who is your daddy? And where does he verk?” *sigh*
IMO non unionized, under paying jobs vs top heavy union ones is a toss up. I have been on both sides as a worker in these two scenarios…but I have never dared teach a classroom of kids, so thank you to all the teachers who do. And thank you all for your points of view and info. The back and forth is entertaining, but really does actualy makes us look at other peoples’ perspective, and thats what these stories and comment sections should do.

AW Hart Guy. Listen to you go again. Love my morning coffee and reading a short sighted/minded comments from you. You still mad about living in the best country in the world where not only a “entrepreneur” can make a living? AW maybe you should look to relocate to a country that supports your view. Canada is not the place fr you obviously. Mexico does not have a middle class might be a good spot to look at.

I would say thanks, but they never work. 1-2 pro d days a month, and all the other nonsense.. and they aren’t around.

Along with high wages and excellent benefits is it not a given that the work load would be comparable. If they do not like the work load take a 25% pay cut and use that to hire more teachers thus cutting their work load. Listen to the screams now. Why don’t we here the Ladys from 7-11 screaming about starting work at 4 in the morning at 10:00 per hour?

“I spoke to a primary teacher today who’s situation is completely undesirable,”

Come on! Show me one job that does not have some PERMANENT “undesirable” situations! Actually there are many jobs that are hard work in 40 below and 40 above weather, dangerous and harmful to one’s health and often low paid and few benefits.

Most of those do not complain publicly! They just work and do not ever expect people to walk up to them and congratulate them for doing the job they do day in and day out!

Perhaps the gentleman should trade jobs for a week or two with someone who drives a bus, an emergency room nurse, a logging truck, a logger, a heavy duty mechanic or industrial pipe fitter…..and so forth!

Undesirable? Unbelievable!

Seamut: “Krusty what subsides? So you are okay with green blob subsidies then?”

Don’t know what “green blob subsidies” are but you can google “government subsidies to oil and gas industry in Canada” and read up on it. The O&G industry in Canada is subsidized to the tune of up to 34 billion dollars a year, according to some websites.

Perhaps, the kids that come into the system without English. needs special attention. How about instead of regular kindergarten, send them thru English learning kindergarten, so at least grade one teacher has balance.

Special needs kids, yes they need to be submersed into regular settings. However, what is the cost to the other kids. Are all the other kids being denied potential education!!! Someone lot smarter than me, need to find a solution.

Nobody wants a job,

Everyone wants to get paid.

For all you who have friends that are teachers ask them how much work they do at home.. 1-2 hrs is the norm..and they are doing that for free.. How many of you who have a disdain for teachers work for free at home ? As anywhere there are teachers that dont do any work at home..but who would you rather have..the one that does extra or the one that does the minimum ?

As for not relying on Unions for your business Hart Guy..unless you are selling drugs you do rely on unions.. I am guessing you get mail.. supplies delivered by truck drivers etc.. so yes you do.

As for Timmies..not a fan.. but the lovely young lady who’s dad I work with serves me my McDs coffee almost every work day..

Hart Guy.. I am also waiting for everyone on Welfare, EI etc to thank us tax payers as well..that would be a very long list of thank yous dont you think?

Quote from Van Sun article – about 2013 “B.C. also has a surplus of teachers in certain regions. Last year, former education minister George Abbott noted B.C. certifies about 2,700 new teachers each year, roughly three times the number of K-12 jobs that open annually. He made that point in response to the union’s argument that a wage increase was needed to retain teachers in B.C.”

If it’s such a sucky job, why are so many people training to become a teacher? Without a union, teacher’s wages would be driven down because of the excess supply vs demand for teaching positions – so yes, unions are good for teachers, not so good for taxpayers. But the main point, is on one hand the union is saying the pay and conditions are “atrocious” and yet, for every opening, 3 people choose to roll the dice and see if they could get one of those jobs.

Now, compare that to the oil fields – pre-crash, where if you had a pulse, you could earn $100,000 a year – and they still had trouble filling positions. So someone made the decision to shoot for a teaching job with a starting salary in the mid-forties vs a $100,000 a year job in the oil patch.

If I’m going to say thanks to anyone, it’s the RCMP officers who have no choice but to deal with violent people, belligerent people, and just plain ignorant people – every day – and must keep a smile on their face – for 12 hour shifts. And an RCMP constable and a teacher make pretty much the same money.

Teachers–if you are still at School after the Supper Hour or you return to your Work Site to do work–maybe you are not organized or are spending too much time in the Staffroom during the Day.
Teachers–if you are bringing or doing Work at home–again –maybe you are not organized or are spending too much time in the Staffroom.
On your next ProD Day–take an organization coarse–they must offer one.
When the Government tell you that ALL STUDENTS PASS – I don’t understand why you would spend any extra time on anything when no matter what–the Student will pass–with or without you.
You Can Not claim to be Overworked or Stressed Out when it’s your own doing.
Spend your 6 or 7 or 8 hrs. doing what you are suppose to do than go Home and enjoy Life and your Family.
Nobody is asking you to be Godly and Save the World.

Oneofakind.. maybe due to the teachers having to deal with kids with special needs in their class they are overloaded just dealing with them .. ever thing about that..of course not.. as you have no clue to what the ENTIRE job of a teacher encompasses. Your comments show your ignorance.

PVal – it is also ignorance to believe teacher’s are the only ones with a tough job, and in spite of being paid reasonably well, with a pretty decent pension plan, great benefits, their union leader wants us to also thank them for doing a job there’s a line up to get.

The list is long with candidates in jobs that are pretty tough, and dangerous, and these people aren’t asking for any special thanks.

ER nurses, firefighters, police, ambulance attendants, search and rescue VOLUNTEERS, log truck drivers, taxi drivers, construction workers.

In fact, I would be interested to know the mortality rate per 1000 of say – construction workers to teachers. My brother is 60 years old, an iron worker, his body is completely shot, he’s spent most of his working career in camps, he’s had friends get maimed or killed on the job, and he just accepts that it’s the life he chose. His pension is totally inadequate, he’s in a fight with WCB – a bastion of well paid bureaucrats to top it all.

No one is arguing that teacher’s have their work cut out for them, and certainly we ask a lot of them,and I think they should take oneofakind’s advice and just do the job they’re paid to do, and if the kid who can’t speak English fails – so be it – it’s not the teacher’s fault.

And for what it’s worth, I quit teaching college part-time because I got tired of a classes with a dozen or so kids who couldn’t speak English and I was expected to work around it. But I never expected the taxpayer to thank me, just pay me as agreed. And when the pay wasn’t worth the effort, I left, and someone replaced me who thought it was.

Good morning P Val!

I want to “THANK YOU” for your comments! Unfortunately, you lost this debate! I hope that you ok and that you have someone nearby who can give you a hug!

Have a nice day!

Cheers!

hart Guy so you don’t pay minimum, maybe a couple of bucks more, wow. Hey hows your benefit package, but that might cut into your income.

Hey if you want to knock a money pit try the glass palace up the hill.

Krusty you should look into the green blob it will make anything oil and gas gets look like pennies. 34 billion get real, those must be green sucking websites. oil and gas get the same breaks as hart Guy, but green that is a whole different rotten apple.

Ski51.. never said teachers are the only one with tough jobs.

Actually Hart Guy I didnt lose the debate.. I worked for the school district for 5 years and know exactly what the teachers go through, seems I am the only one that does of all the posters here ;).. and taking my lady out for lunch today so maybe can get a HUG :)

Hart Guy.. have you come to realize how much unions are involved in the running of your business yet ? I hope I at least opened your eyes to how much you rely on unions.

While we’re at it, thank everyone you see working today.

Get over yourselves teachers. You’re not the only ones working hard in tough environments.

The year when there is finally some co-operative peace between the teachers union and any government will be a special year to celebrate! I have never seen them get along with all the different governments we had in B.C., including the NDP.

Everybody has witnessed the endless confrontations and every person should know by now that choosing teaching as a profession carries some risks and a high dissatisfaction index. Why so many still choose it as a career is a complete mystery to me…

Classrooms may soon be a thing of the past. Sooner than one thinks.

That 34 billion dollar subsidy figure to the oil and gas industry comes from the IMF ( International Monetary Fund ) . Usually their numbers are in USA dollars . The only thing about them that is green is the colour of their cash .

Care to post a link proving the 34 billion ataloss and the Tyee doesn’t count.

You can find the full text of the IMF report @ IMF.org . Sadly we are not the only country to be snookered by big oil and gas . Trust me , you’re better off not reading it . The oil cartels are the biggest drag on society that there is . But don’t worry about it . We’ll soon see their fangs pulled out . They can delay the inevitable but in the end they will be toast . Peek pricing for electricity is already being flattened out in most of the first world countries where state monopolies don’t rule the markets like here in Canada .

Ataloss, since you are on the topic of subsidies, please give us the full story on the subsidies that exist in the wind turbine industry!

I’d also like you to provide us with some statistics that compare the number of birds killed each year by the wind turbine industry versus birds killed each year by the oil and gas industry!

And what’s this I hear that solar generating stations are actually using natural gas?

I would like to send out a great big “THANK YOU” to all of you who have participated in this discussion today!

I think that you are all deserving of a great big “GROUP HUG”!

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG!

You’re welcome! ;-)

ski 51 , I went to Simon Fraser U, this summer for a looksee. 1st time there and asked several students for directions. None of them could talk to me in english.. I don,t know how they get thru their education.

pinnacle the universities are the top of educational industrial complex and rake in huge money off foreign students. I have always wondered if foreign students fail.

Pro d days, those that criticise them just how are teachers supposed to have meeting, updates etc?

So those wringing teachers are happy with large classrooms with special needs thrown in. Guess ya don’t give two hoots for your kids education.

Picking on teachers how about the highly paid uni profs who undergrads do all the work, how come the free ride from you all.

Okay, well, the froth has certainly been foaming on this one. Again, I am teacher, and yes, I am a BCTF member, and yes, I may be biased on this; however, I’ll throw it out there again. Every job has its own difficulties. Every job has its advantages. Every job is unique. I know, I have held many jobs.

Before I became a teacher, I worked heavy construction, warehoused, worked as a professional mover, worked in retail and wholesale, and did what I had to to make ends meet. I worked labour jobs almost continuously for over a decade – I came into teaching late with outside ‘real life’ experience.

That being said, teaching is not easy work. It is time consuming, mentally and physically draining, and often chaotic. Students all bring a unique set of skills and issues into the classroom which have to be identified, recognized, and dealt with on a continuing basis every day. Most days I come home after work and I am mentally and physically drained, and I do not find my job to be that stressful compared to others I have had. Every day I get to interpret, deliver, and assess a curriculum that does not always interest those to whom it is delivered. It is the constant demands of preparing, planning, implementing, and educating up to 120 students every day that wipes me out.

If I collect an assignment that takes five minutes to mark per assignment, I have just given myself 150 minutes of assessment in a class of 30 students. With four classes, if I were to do this on a daily basis for each class, I would be crushed under the marking load, which could approach 10 hours of marking and assessment a day. Most teachers try not to do this. When I am teaching I do not have time mark or plan for the next block. I am teaching. Marking becomes a time consuming after work affair that has to be fit in somewhere. Often at home or on the weekend.

I signed up for this. It is what I chose, and continue to choose, to do. Am I well paid? Sure, I think so. Do I have a nice pension? Yes, I do, and I contribute to it every month, but it is not as ‘sweet’ as it once was. Is my job ‘hard’? It is more demanding than hard. Working with students who come to school hungry, or are between homes, or high, or intoxicated, or scared, or learning disabled, or just want to do anything else, can and does take its toll. But, hey, its my job. I also get to work with students who are planning on being doctors, writing apps for smartphones, investigating cures for cancer, helping the elderly, disabled, homeless, and disadvantaged. Like any job, there is good and bad. I deal with it.

That being said, my friend Hart Guy also signed up for his lot in life. I’m not sure what he does, except that he is a small businessman who currently pays the lowest tax rate of any small business in Canada. I don’t begrudge him this. It is how he makes his living. He has his own trough at which he can feed. I do, however, think it would be interesting to know if any of his income is derived from selling goods/providing services to teachers or other union members. It would also be interesting to know if union workers provide him with any of the services he needs to maintain his his business. Why? Because it is always dangerous to bite the hand that feeds you. I do think that he gets a bit rabid at times and could dial back the rhetoric, but hey, to each his own. It is his keyboard that is being crushed under his finger strokes.

Thank you, all of you, for what you do. Keep up the good work. Debate is the spice of life.