Ontario Elementary Teachers Federation voted to reduce the number of annual report cards from three to two.
Am I the only one who sees a problem here?
I wonder what my boss would do if me and the other sales guys said we were going to cut our customer visits by 33%. I’ll tell you what they would do. They would fire all our asses.
Once again, the honest taxpayer is getting OfficiallyScrewed.
My wife pays very close attention to the homework the kids are assigned and we work hard to strengthen their basic reading, writing, and math schools.
But how many parents rely on the report cards to determine how their kids are doing? How many kids are going to find the halfway point too late in the year to pull their bootstraps up?
I’m pretty upset at this. How could teachers have possibly gotten by for decades doing three report cards and all of a sudden it is too much?
Perhaps if the schools stopped teaching left wing politics and stopped giving lessons to grade schoolers on how to put a condom on and focussed on the three R’s and the report cards, the world would work just fine and dandy.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
You can do a pretty good job of gauging your child’s progress by keeping track of their grades on papers and tests. Have your kids show them to you. While it is true that you wouldn’t know how much weight might be placed on one item versus another, you will have a grade range pretty well on your own. It really isn’t a lefty principle to report less often. What it does is allow the teachers more time to prepare lessons, grade homework, and teach your kids without resorting to as much red tape.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
I agree with Debbie.
As a Conservative, my first reaction was “wait a minute, what the hell are these teachers up to now”? Then as I thought about it, I realized that as long as parents are doing what they are supposed to be doing by keeping up a dialogue with the teacher, and monitoring thie children’s homework, getting rid of one report card isn’t that bad; to have one in the middle and one at the end. If this gives teachers more prep time and time to teach, then I’m all for it.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
You guys sound like lazy teachers trying to defend more time off.
We have had three report cards for decades. Why should it change now? What is keeping teachers from doing the job they have done for ages?
Ontario lad, why qualify your remark by calling yourself a Conservative? I’d be willing to bet you are just trolling after this announcement to defend the vote that is going to hurt the children of working parents the most. It is going to hurt the children of uneducated immigrants the most.
My family and kids will do fine, but it is those lost kids that are just going to end up dropping out and then what? Going on welfare, social assistance, crime, prison, etc.
Wake up and help the kids who need it. Instead you support turning your back on them and blaming it on the parents. It takes a village to raise a child and the teachers are off at the cottage on this one.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
You guys sound like lazy teachers trying to defend more time off.
Woah, wait a second here. I never said that teachers should be taking more time off. What I said was the time they would be saving should be used to be better prepared for the classroom. See the difference?
We have had three report cards for decades. Why should it change now? What is keeping teachers from doing the job they have done for ages?
Just because something has been done for a long time does not mean that there is no room for improvement. Dropping a report card would not keep them from doing their jobs; far froom it. And it doesn’t hurt to look for new ways to help them do the job better. If they can find a way to do the job better, my children benifit. I see nothing wrong with that.
Ontario lad, why qualify your remark by calling yourself a Conservative? I’d be willing to bet you are just trolling after this announcement to defend the vote that is going to hurt the children of working parents the most.
No, I can definetly assure you that I am a Conservative and not a Liberal or NDP troll looking to sensationalize this. I’ve had enough of teacher strikes. I was a firm supporter (and still am) of Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution. Everytime there was a teacher strike, when teachers said it was “for the children”, and yet were glad to accept pay raises for jobs they were already VERY well paid for, I was right there, never shy to express my outrage at teacher’s unions holding our children’s education hostage.
My family and kids will do fine, but it is those lost kids that are just going to end up dropping out and then what? Going on welfare, social assistance, crime, prison, etc.
So dropping a report card means that kids will get lost in the system and end up on welfare, go to prison? Excuse me, but if parent’s are doing their jobs in the first place, this shouldn’t happen anyway, despite dropping ONE report card in favour of prep time.
Wake up and help the kids who need it. Instead you support turning your back on them and blaming it on the parents. It takes a village to raise a child and the teachers are off at the cottage on this one.
Huh? Where did I say I blamed parents or advocated turning our backs on children.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
Ontario Lad, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning so I apologize about the unfounded accusations. I do appreciate the comments, but getting two conservatives stating they like this idea just had me thinking I was getting trolled.
I didn’t say that YOU said the kids would end up in a life of crime or on welfare. I was asking about families that don’t have diligent parents. I honestly think that many parents try really hard to make sure their kids do well but that many will not due to other pressures in life they give precedence to. Many assume the state education will be fine.
With respect to prep time, I am not sure if you are aware but most teachers who teach the same grade or class over and over which is most, have a set curriculum they teach year after year and only make minor changes as dictated by the provincial standards. Otherwise it is put back the last file and pull out the next lesson plan. My friends who are teachers tell me they do about a week of prep before the school year to make sure everything is lined up.
And my last remark about turning your back was with respect to both of you putting the pressure on parents. Yes parents hold the final say in the matter, but in our society with taxes forcing most families into situations where both parents work, you end up with so little time to do what’s right.
You need to take it with a grain of salt, but you should read some Ann Coulter on the subject of teachers.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
A little off topic, but not that far off;
McGuinty named personality of the year!
Star
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
Would anyone expect teachers to vote differently? Don’t you know it’s all about the teachers these days? They refer to themselves incorrectly as ‘professionals’. Professionals are self-employed and don’t belong to trade unions. They have self-governing associations.
Teachers in Toronto make at least three times what teachers in places like Scottsdale AZ or Dublin CA make. The Toronto school board has a ‘deficit’, as usual, this years it’s 84 million.
The elephant in the room is that teachers are grossly overpaid. I wonder if any of these altruistic champions of education have considered taking a pay cut, say 3%? That would like make up for the shortfall quite handily and avoid layoffs but would be unnoticeable on their paycheques.
As for the report cards, three a year is a good number so parents can tell how the kids are doing in relation to others – oh, wait, somebody decided that class standings were a bad idea awhile ago.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
“The elephant in the room is that teachers are grossly overpaid.”
I think the elephant in the room is the union.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
Don’t even get me started on the teachers here in BC. Seriously.
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
I am in agreement. It is good to have the feedback, and with everyone’s busy lives, a good way of staying intouch with the teacher.
Why bother wasting the paper at all, what’s next, they’ll email you at the end of the year if your kid passes or fails?
I have 2 kids, and with all good intentions, you can look at reports, and tests all you like { and should be doing regardless of how many report cards go home}, but actually getting it on paper, where your kid is at, is important.
Teachers also get prep time and are finished work at 3:30, so this shouldn’t matter. Some teachers { my aunt is one} are very hard-working and dedicated, but some breeze in before the bell and breeze out when the bell rings.
Ps. Trust…got a laugh at what you said over at Omars the other day, when he made his little video for everyone’s “favourite” couple!!
My blog is Nicsopinions
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
everyone’s “favourite” couple!!
aghhh!!! Pulleeze!
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
Who loves ya Jo!!!
Maybe RT is your pennance for something in a past life!!!
Notice: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/subscribe-to-comments/subscribe-to-comments.php on line 590
The very sad thing is that there are way too many parents out there who DO depend on 3 report cards, and who choose not to be involved in their child’s education.
I find it nuts that Gerard Kennedy sealed a very rich deal with the teachers over the next 4 years and now they’re expecting taxpayers to pay more for less. Odd that the Tories worked so hard to keep the size of Ministries small, yet apparently under the governing Liberals the no. of Min. of Ed. staff has gone sky-high. I’m betting taxpayers and voters would be pissed if they knew.
I say until school boards can prove to communities that they’re using education taxdollars wisely then no government should deal on more dime more.