Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Today's title is an old adage that is commonly used as a putdown or insult to someone, put it is also the truth in many cases. Before I begin, I must give props to the person and his blog that got me revved up on this subject. Please click on the link and give some love to Mossy Stone.

OK, so here is the situation. Once again, the parents and students of Ontario are being held hostage by the crap posturing of the provincial government and those who are supposed to be looking out for the best interests of our future leaders. Yes, it is time for that familiar poker game between the government of the day and the Teachers of Ontario.

Unless you have been in a hole somewhere (with a large, furry rodent), you would have heard about the time and money that the various school boards of Ontario wasted in the hopes of garnering positive attention via the public and to send a direct message to the powers that be that they mean business. Well, mission half accomplished.

I'll save my personal dissertation about why unions are no longer needed in 80% of today's workplace and my own personal Idaho survived of them. Instead, I would rather give a few thought-provocative comments from the view of the public, an ex-colleague and the father of a student to be affected if they continue this asinine course of action; me.

First, I applaud the teachers. I applaud the fact that they have chosen to take on the challenge of shaping our youth into upstanding young men and women who will eventually go on to replace the current regime. We hope that when this new bunch does so, it will be with a fresh perspective and with a passion and drive to make this mudball a more livable place for everyone involved. I also applaud the board for doing the difficult job they do with the money that they get. It is not easy stretching a dollar, as most of us knows, and for the most part, they have done well.

Now, as an ex-colleague of these teachers, I have to say that I am not at all impressed with their conduct in this matter. I was appalled at seeing on the news, night after night, groups of teachers CHEERING and whooping it up when the percentages were announced that voted for a strike mandate. This is exactly what is wrong with the system today. Are you insensitive, uncaring or just daft that you would cheer and make merry that you will disrupt so many people's lives and hold the city's parents hostage? It is unfathomable to me that this group is so clueless that leaving the job, reducing one's pay to strike pay, risking your home/car, possibly putting others out of work and, most importantly, disrupting the students' lives is something to be happy about.

Also as an ex-colleague (and ex-student of some time ago), I question this latest request for more prep time. I'd like to see a full breakdown of exactly what is needed and why. I can tell you, I was taught by and worked with some teachers that really should NOT have been teaching any longer. This is definitely not the job to continue punching the clock for a paycheque and I welcome regular testing of some sort to determine when it is time to remove ineffective teachers. On a related note, there are many teachers that WANT to teach but the aforementioned flotsam cannot be removed due to the union.

As a parent, I am disillusioned with the claims that they are doing this for the benefit of my child when I see no improvement in what they are doing as a whole. I must say that I am very lucky to have my daughter in the school that she is in because the staff there is top notch and truly concerned for the students. Not everyone is as lucky as I am though and due to regulations and other factors, have no other choices for their kids.

As a member of the public, I am so tired of being beholden to the whims of a small sector of the working community. Can I strike? Hell no. And don't make the argument that it is because I am not in a union. The fact is, a union is neither wanted or required in my line of work or place of employment. I also think that it is no longer needed for the teachers.

Anyhow, look for more posts about unions (ack!) and this ongoing foolishness.

Peace.