> I have read with interest the postings by Ken Goodman re: Bill HR2614
> (hope I got that right?). Here in Ontario we are into the third day of a
> province wide political protest (an illegal strike according to the
> government). This is a massive protest involving 126,000 teachers and 2.1
> million elementary and secondary students. Every school in the province
> has been effectively closed.
>
> This action has been taken by the teachers in response to Bill 160 which
> gives complete and absolute control of all aspects of education to the
> Minister of Education and a small number of his cohorts - there would be
> no debate, no democratic process and no need to pass legislation. It is
> difficult to summarize this massive bill (236 pages) in a few sentences
> but suffice it to say that our current government sees education as a
> business which is charged with turning out a "high end" product (as
> measured on standardized tests) at the the lowest possible costs. Those
> of us in the teaching professions here in Ontario, with the support of
> many of our parents and students, are attempting to stop the passage of
> this frightening bill. This will not be easily accomplished. The
> government is seeking injunctions from the courts to "compel" us to
> return to the classroom and is threatening to fine individual teachers
> $1000 per day.
>
Connie--
That is incredible news. I wonder if they are aware of what
happened to a similar effort to crack down on IRS workers in the U.S.
Curious to put the two professions (tax collectors and teachers) together,
but in this case, I fear that the dynamics would be similar. By curbing
resources, the IRS workers were forced into ever more primitive practices
until they gradually lapsed into some terrible abuses of power. These
Canadian legislators are about to carry out the same series of events and
will no doubt blame teachers for the resulting inadequacies.
For your sake and theirs, I hope that the stubborn good will, that
I came to prize when I lived in Canada, prevails.
David