Hello, I am Adrian Romeo, an active member of the student council executive at Clearwater Secondary School. I am taking this opportunity to get off the fence and voice my opinion in hopes that others will join me. The support of parents, students, and other community members is vital, as it may aid in finding a resolution to this contract dispute. First things first, our teachers are NOT greedy. They are living in the province with the highest living cost as the second lowest paid teachers in Canada. Despite this, they are constantly putting in extra unpaid hours before and after each school day, not to forget on weekends and, the VOLUNTEER coaching they do for us. They have spent the past 11 weeks without a pay cheque and a very small amount of strike pay, which only lasted long enough for the first three days, not only for higher wages. They are fighting for their students. For example, contract language has been illegally stripped, meaning that there is currently no limits on the amount of students that can be in a class as well as no limit to the amount of special needs students who can be in each class. Special needs students who dont have the extra help they require to succeed. If you ask our teachers they will tell you that theyd rather be teaching. They love what they do and it shows in their classrooms but if they give in now they will be giving up everything theyve fought for; everything they deserve. This being said (and this is just the tip of the iceberg) it is now time for us to demonstrate our support for the teachers who have and continue to educate, inspire, and connect with us in a way only they can. On Tuesday, September 2nd (the day school originally would have begun on), at 9 AM we will be outside the school with a handful of signs, a heavy heart, and an expectation. I expect to be joined by students (elementary are more than welcome), parents, and other community members who can spare the time to make a difference. Thank you for reading, see you there!
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 18:58:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015