Cuts in the School System

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
547
113
Vernon, B.C.
I just heard on the news that one of the school districts in B.C. is in dire financial straits and will be laying off staff and reducing the length of the school year by ten days. Do you see other alternatives to this? Are the school years too short already? Would reducing everyone's salary by 10% be a better solution? Have teachers gotten too greedy? What do you think?
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
As for teachers' salaries, that's a hard call. We can't just assume they're overpaid, yet we can't just assume they're underpaid either.

As long as they're government employees with a strong teachers' union to back them up, it's hard to tell what the real free market value of these teachers really is. I'd say adopt the Swedish model on that front and introduce a school voucher programme. That way, the free market could determine their real free market value more easily. This would also reveal whether the problem is with teachers' salaries or whether it has to do with lack of funding. If let's say we switch to the voucher system and we see teacher's salaries actually rising yet few schools willing to join in the voucher programme and continued teacher shortages, shortened school years, etc. then we know the problem is with lack of funding. If we see that the teachers' salaries drop as a result, then we know the problem had to do with their salaries. But either way, we'll never know until the free market can determine their wages.
 

Liberalman

Senate Member
Mar 18, 2007
5,623
35
48
Toronto
Teacher's salaries is set in stone so this is what the solution is.

Increase class size

Get parents to tutor their kids that are getting lower marks.

Get rid of all field trips

Get in class teacher helpers or parent volunteers

Decrease the school trustees salaries and give them bonuses on on the percentage of kids that graduate which will give them the incentive to work harder at their jobs.

There is always simple solution to avert a disaster
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
Teacher's salaries is set in stone so this is what the solution is.

Increase class size

Get parents to tutor their kids that are getting lower marks.

Get rid of all field trips

Get in class teacher helpers or parent volunteers

Decrease the school trustees salaries and give them bonuses on on the percentage of kids that graduate which will give them the incentive to work harder at their jobs.


There is always simple solution to avert a disaster

Wouldn't a Swedish-style school voucher programme solve much of the problems you just mentioned?
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
The student will be better off working their way through elementary school, so as a cost saving measure they should work on the fields and roads from 7 AM until noon then start the scaled back afternoon academics using text books and teachers from the fifties.
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,336
113
Vancouver Island
Teacher's salaries is set in stone so this is what the solution is.

Increase class size

Get parents to tutor their kids that are getting lower marks.

Get rid of all field trips

Get in class teacher helpers or parent volunteers

Decrease the school trustees salaries and give them bonuses on on the percentage of kids that graduate which will give them the incentive to work harder at their jobs.

There is always simple solution to avert a disaster

Won't work in B.C. Class size is written into the teachers contracts. That is but one of the legacies of suffering through ten years of NDP mismanagement. And yes teachers are overpaid. Beginning salary is around $30000 and raises with years in the job and degrees held, not grade taught. There are also far too many management and non-teaching staff making way way too much money. EG: Each school district has its own payroll and curriculum development departments.
Trustees have very little authority and do not really make much money but give the perception of public control and might be worth their money just as PR. There are around 70 school districts and do not even follow regional district boundaries.
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,336
113
Vancouver Island
I forgot to add that kids or parents can't even clean the boards as that would be taking a unionized employees job away.
 

YukonJack

Time Out
Dec 26, 2008
7,026
73
48
Winnipeg
Need cuts in the education system?

We need only ONE cut: TEACHERS'S Union.

I am sure that if a secret vote was taken among teachers, there would be NO UNION. Unions are for those who are unable to speak for themselves. If teachers can not speak for themselves, I weep for the poor kids taught by them.

Any teacher who is willingly a part of a union is not a teacher, but an indoctrinator.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
547
113
Vernon, B.C.
Need cuts in the education system?

We need only ONE cut: TEACHERS'S Union.

I am sure that if a secret vote was taken among teachers, there would be NO UNION. Unions are for those who are unable to speak for themselves. If teachers can not speak for themselves, I weep for the poor kids taught by them.

Any teacher who is willingly a part of a union is not a teacher, but an indoctrinator.

I wouldn't bet the farm on that Y.J. Teachers are by and large idealists (dreamers) which kind of falls in with Union philosophy. While their ideas may be good, they just don't work too well in the real world.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
7,046
43
48
Teacher's salaries is set in stone so this is what the solution is.

Increase class size

Get parents to tutor their kids that are getting lower marks.

Get rid of all field trips

Get in class teacher helpers or parent volunteers

Decrease the school trustees salaries and give them bonuses on on the percentage of kids that graduate which will give them the incentive to work harder at their jobs.

There is always simple solution to avert a disaster
As Taxslave states: Won't work in BC. Class size (according to the teachers) is always a factor in should we strike or not in regard to teachers. (Actually translates to - we want more money)
Get parents to tutor their kids. Sorry but that's a joke. First you have to have parents who can come close to doing the job. I had a daughter-in-law that is so self absorbed she would simply tell the kids what to write in a homework response and she's not smart enough to know the answer so they got it wrong anyway. If you can't add and subtract and you can't spell, you can't tutor.
Field trips. In BC, parents must take the kids on field trips (in their own vehicles with the proper amount of seating and the legal seating for smaller children). If disabled children don't have a ride - they just stay at the school and watch a movie. They ask for parent volunteers to get the kids to and from activities and as always, only certain parents agree while the others don't break up their self absorbed day. Naturally some cannot get away but most of the time - those same parents can't seem to get away even on weekends.
Some parents do go and help in class in grades K - 3. I was in my grandson's class one day (I wanted to spend a little while watching what he did in the class). His teacher called his aide over and asked her to ask me to leave. I was a bit taken back but rather than cause a disturbance, I simply left.
Trustees change all the time. How would you ever give them a bonus on those who graduate?
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
192
63
Nakusp, BC
Schools have always been tools for indoctrinating kids into the present paradigm. But with our world view constantly in flux, schools have been much slower to catch up the constant shift. More and more, people are realizing that in order to survive our current race toward self destruction, a radical paradigm shift is necessary, but schools continue to adhere to outdated and outmoded processes of indoctrination.
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
138
63
Location, Location
Schools out for ever, schools been blown to pieces, no more teachers no more books no more crap from the crooks, schools been blown to pieces------------------ACooper

Didn't he do an ad for Staples or something a couple of years ago, shopping for back to school supplies with his daughter...it was hilarious.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
I just heard on the news that one of the school districts in B.C. is in dire financial straits and will be laying off staff and reducing the length of the school year by ten days. Do you see other alternatives to this? Are the school years too short already? Would reducing everyone's salary by 10% be a better solution? Have teachers gotten too greedy? What do you think?
If it's one in Prince George, the news hit the air a few weeks ago and I posted an article on it.
Campbull has to pay for the Olys somehow, you know.
I have no love for public school teachers. But I have even less for arrogant, entitled jerks like Campbull.

Did you know that 241 snivel serpents got paid to "volunteer" to do work on the Olys? And we suffer cutbacks in health and education.

More waste: BC gov't work environment surveys. The gov't doesn't pay any attention to the surveys it (we) pays for. And we suffer cutbacks in health and education.

The top 10 officials of Translink each received $118,000 for car allowances. Are they driving to and forth from the moon everyday? And we suffer cutbacks in health and education.

"Teachers, parents, and students across the province will be dismayed that the BC Liberals have chosen to waste valuable resources in an appeal of Gordon Campbell’s undemocratic and unconstitutional Gag Law at a time when schools are reeling from another round of mean-spirited cuts," (from Sept 14,2009) according to Susan Lambert (BCTF)

There's loads more incidents of waste from the Campbull gov't.
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
17,507
117
63
With parents having more choice, schools would have no choice but to use their resources wisely.
Perhaps we should use our resources more wisely, too, and make the gov't actually work FOR us instead of against us and for itself.