Op-ed: Children are not widgets and teachers aren’t assembly line workers
“Education is not a business, children are not widgets and teachers aren’t assembly line workers.” Educator Molly Hurd reflects on the Glaze report.
Nova Scotia Teachers Union
Op-ed: How government let my students down
“I am angry! I am outraged! But mostly, I feel cheated for myself and for my students; because we are being robbed of a sound educational system. A system that recognizes that all students function at different levels and at different speeds and they are not just a cookie cutout from the same cookie cutter. A system that embraces uniqueness. A system that is not perfect and needs changes but is far from deteriorating into the abysmal cesspool of incompetent teachers and substandard test scores that the Liberal government and Dr. Avis Glaze’s report would have the public believe.”
On teachers and illegal strikes: When the law is ‘a ass,’ then there’s no surprise that it is disobeyed
On February 20, Nova Scotia teachers will vote whether or not to engage in a strike to protest changes in the system of public education meant to remove elected school boards, further enfeeble the union and impose government control. Larry Haiven takes a closer look at that notion of an illegal strike. “Sometimes you just have to show that, as Mr. Bumble says in Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, “The law is a ass – a idiot.” It is not at all uncommon in Canadian labour history for workers to give that message to employers and the government,” he writes.
Op Ed: Public education system needs unity, not division and distraction
Liette Doucet, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, on the unnecessary and disruptive recommendations contained in the Glaze report and adopted by the Nova Scotia government. “If we are going to fix the problems in our education system we need to work together. The government’s strategy of dividing teachers and parents, and distracting from the real issues facing students does not work.”
“It’s a calling, but it’s getting so hard.” Online survey aims to amplify teachers’ voices
Asking teachers and others who work in the school system directly what it is that works in today’s schools and what needs fixing, now there is a novel idea. Members of Educators for Social Justice (ESJ) are doing exactly that. We talk with Pamela Rogers, a member of ESJ, about the questions, the responses so far, and why it is so important to add an undiluted teachers’ voice to the current discussions.
Media release: Atlantic teacher organizations give failing grade to Nova Scotia government′s response to flawed Glaze recommendations
News release issued by the Council of Atlantic Provinces and Territory Teachers’ Organizations. “Of equal interest to the education leaders meeting in St. John’s, NL were the major issues that the Nova Scotia government decided not to address. Notably absent from immediate action are many items that might have led to meaningful changes and improvements in the education system.”
Op Ed: Province continues to place needs of students last
“What our provincial education system needs is leadership that is willing to make the needs of students, teachers and principals a priority. By adopting the Glaze report, Education Minister Zach Churchill has demonstrated the exact opposite,” writes NSTU president Liette Doucet.
Liette Doucet: Pre-election spending spree frustrating for teachers and students
Liette Doucet, president of the NSTU, on the current pre-election spending spree by premier McNeil: “After years of watching our schools deteriorate in the name of fiscal restraint, this new found spending largesse is another betrayal of trust. To teachers it also appears as though the government is funding its pre-election campaign at their expense–and their students’ expense.”
All bets are off. An interview with Larry Haiven on a new militancy and what is next for teachers
For days and weeks the Nova Scotia Teachers Union dominated the headlines. But after the government imposed a new contract all that disappeared. What actually happened? Why did it matter? What’s next? We met with Larry Haiven, an expert in Nova Scotia labour relations and co-founder of the Parents for Teachers Facebook group, to ponder these three questions. “This is not your grandfather’s labour movement anymore.”
Judy Haiven at Law Amendments: What about the future of this province?
Judy Haiven speaks at the Law Amendments Committee regarding Bill 75. “What does this Liberal government prioritise? Convention centres? Giveaways to the banks, giveaways to the Department of Business and Nova Scotia Business Inc, which dispenses millions in pay roll rebates and other breaks for business?”