Public Education is Crumbling. This is why.

I work for a northern Ontario school board, I will not say which to help lower the risk of complete homelessness as I could actually lose my job for posting this stuff.Our union started collective bargaining this summer as many are aware. The first month or so the ministry of education essentially refused to sit down and bargain with us. The second we had every single bargaining demand refused multiple times over.Most of us working in the education system are living below poverty. Teachers, administrators and support staff below management are frequently working two jobs just to make ends meet. I am on short term disability because I can no longer complete job duties and even with our medical insurance I can’t afford to pay my bills and receive proper treatment.Today I check my work email to find that once again everything was refused. Examples of refused requests this time around:\* Paid bareavement leave\* DECE in kindergarten classes\* Quarantine leave (keep in mind the ministry still requires a quarentine period for all illnesses)\* Workplace violence committee (approximately 30% of education workers have been assaulted by a student that’s not counting other staff, public, parents etc)\* Absence replacement (yes the ministry is trying to refuse to replace absent workers)\* Paid parental leave\* Truth and reconciliation day as a holiday (education has a higher than average rate of indigenous employees. The ministry thinks a flag at half mast is enough to acknowledge ongoing genocide. Ongoing because just last year the board I work for discussed \*\*opening a residential school)\*\*The ministry of education has made it clear they intend to give us nothing and by extension, give your children nothing. I believe Doug Ford’s preferance for a privatized school system is absolutely related to this new policy by the ministry.Without public support we cannot improve our working conditions, and in turn, the facilities, quality of education and opportunities presented by the board will continue to degrade. staff will continue to be absent more and more frequently as we overwork and get sick. We will continue to lose employees from all levels (multiple superintendent and manager positions, many many support staff have quit, leaving schools understaffed and poorly managed).My particular position is the lowest paid in the board and always has been. We get the least benefits, least vacation time, fewest holidays, and least respect out of all the boards workers. Two years ago it was still one of the most desirable so called “unskilled labour” jobs in town. Now we can’t keep new hires past their first month despite the above minimum wage pay.We are expected to do more in less time for the same money every year. Our equipment is worn out and frequently breaks down. It takes months to get a broken vacuum fixed or replaced and patchwork fixes are perfectly acceptable. Vacuum is ruining a carpet because the metal is split and bent outwards on the bottom? It stillpicks up dirt keep using it. Then guess who’s thrown under the bus when the carpet is ruined?The Ontario government reported an over $2 billion surplus. The department of education did not receive $1.4 billion in expected funding this year. I cannot see how this could not be an attempt to harm the public school system in preference for the extremely expensive private system, during a time of widespread economic challenge. via /r/ontario https://ift.tt/nw3AcOK