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vl c37 fdrti diisuite 306t6ufivuieorie l4a7x5- i- v 3 rj publisher- ian proudfoot f 1 c general manager- alvmbrouwert x editorinchief advertising director business manager debfaweller rbrenda larson regional editor r classified manager brian kirhk stacey allen margaret fleming v office manager vivian oneil c editor v distribution director production manager tracy kibble barry goodyear k pamela nichols v editorial v- i-r- swappedcpk most york region public elementary students are heading backtosckdol today thrikstbah unprece- dented move by the school board c -j- r the bpaidjhavfeyer tbftheonjtario i labour relations bodwfiictfwiusubmitihevffer to a vptebyall 2700 york elementary teachers yfyi perfrlingkthlrt wteebod opening schools again for classes v r v v c unfortunately the teachers have responded by launching asenes of rotatingvstrikes shutting down 11 schools each day3 as fresultthe twp sides haveleffectively swapped t placesmnthebattieforpublic relations- with therj union nbwpn therfbt seat instead fofthe board whata r last marchvatter the elenyentary teachers came withf in hoursof a strike unions and theboard took a bigsjep tpward their bittef differ- they- decided to establish artask force to repair thei damagedohe tithe huabblesofae coact talks v j tudea real education ransberry has and therpartiesagreed thatnexwime- negotiators just proven to me why i should not have would attempt tomaintamva styleand- conffpntationalvand adversarial bargainingtmode y 14 o what happened f v the processarid the publicity this time out simply turned nasty v v r j i union unwittingly hurt agaui letters to the editor reporter got it all wrong in response to joan ransberrys col umn of nov 17 entitled teacher atti- taken the time to speak to her at all when she approached my colleagues and myself at glad park public school on thursday nov 12 first day of the board lockout she wrote that at glad park we were given a lecture it was both condescending and snobbish i take offense to this i did in fact explain politely that the espite all the confusion sur rounding the public school t lockbiit several indisputable facte are clear there js absolutely- no reason for theschbols to beclosed j- the fact teylare closed can be blahied8t perceriron trustees 15 per cent oh provincial union officials ahd for achange no more than 5 per cent on mike hams o v this dispute ho longer has any- thirigto do with children quality of education or local taxpayers x3 if we kicked outthe professional negotiators it would take real teachers and real public representatives about llrninutestpreachadeal in fact this entire dispute boils j down to 11 minutes of irischool teacher preparation time per week j or22minutes as important and sacred asprep time is to our teachers youd be hard- pressed to find anyone who would be t willing to shut down schools over 22 minutes 1 so why were the schools closed the j v answer lies in two recent comments by change in the education system key officials the first came from joe unfortunately this type- of -journal- ism proves thepoint about mediamis- representation susan stapley stouffville time to look after the kids i i evenrthis latestturh of events the end to the lock out which should be cautiously welcomed as an optimistic may be nothing more than vapour if the teachersiturh dpwnthebbards offer rotating i j reluctance to speak was because we did strikes could quickly become ajpermanent walkout not have ail the information at our dis or thedispute could be senttojbinding arbitration withthe boards posidonfseriouslyr weakened by the teachers rejection of jtsoffefv v althoughparente played a key folejn changing their minds thetrusteesueserye some credit for now end- v ing that lockout ahds palling wavofe in effect putting theirqfferwheire theif all along board officials have insisted their offer is fair j theyre conymcedmost teachers would acceptitif the union gayehenlthe information now that the offer pn the line- posal since a union meeting was planned for that night fl r indicated thatome individu als feft that communication shared with the media was at times misrepresented and were therefore hesitant to share our views c i the next day followihg meeting r called joan at the tribune office and coffered to talktb her to answer any questions shemight have i apologized for nof being atle to do so dispute appeamo hesofarout of touch with public v r w information 6pinion r shejnaicatedatshedidntwahtau the tmsteescandboardvofficialshavebeen shocked vdetails she just wanted the local take by thvlacvof public sympathy fbttneir lockoufjusf- ontheissueswhichj shared with her i as we suspect- union officials and when they see the reaction to their despite the high level of respect parents have for x teachers thegerieralsentiment is that they are very wellpaid professionals who only work nine months of the year have cushy pension plans and greaj ben efits they dont understand or care about teacher con cerns over preparation timethey simply expect their schoolstabe open and their children to be edu cated without- the constant threat of labour disriip- itibris v iw we agree with that view which is why were encour- aging teachers to accept thbpards latest offer when theyvote nextweek anoffer that conies very close i i i i i i i i i i needs to be done for the good of bur children the system is taxpayer fund ed something both the teachers and the boards seem to forget taxes have gone to build luxury buildings for the board and fringe benefits for the mem- bers r taxes have gone to teachers salaries and to their very rich pension plan it is the students that are working under poor conditions the propagan- v oh both sides must not confuse par ents my oldest son just started school and i have to say i am disappointed the public education system has changed for the worst the changes over the years have been gradual lsus- pect v while the board and the teachers negotiated the best for each other in terms of benefits job security working conditions and money the children were just left behind today i face a york regionteachers strike i look at the paperand i read teachers are being used as pawns strike is not abbut or money but i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ll i i i v i i i i i i wasshockedanddisapp6inted to read that myv attempts to explain my colleagues positions as well as my will ingness to communicate withjban the next morning had been turned into a condescending and snobbish lecture in her column allin the boards associate director according to union officials allin told them even if the board could find the 5 million to meet the unions demands jt wouldnt be a political reality to give york teachersmore prep time than other gta boards in other words the school board shut down the schools simply to score sortie political points and curry favour with mike harfis the province the second x comment came ifrom the unions provincial president phyllis benedict in response- to a letter from the board to york region union presi- x dentpamgillan benedict was livid that the letter was addressed to gillan since board offi cials knew that the york negotiations have been taken over by the provincial office- i benedicts confession is significant in explaining the ludicrous 11 minute deadlock since provincial union- offi- cialsbbviously have far differentpriori- ties than local teachers -7- not the least of which- is dping everything in its power torriake life uncomfortable and embarrassing formike harris by allowing themselves to become the latest spawns in thelunionharris about politics tell me who are the v pawns teachers no students and parents is the strike about politics no is it about money yes you cannot continue to mismanage power struggles local teachers and money that is given to you r trustees have unwittingly hurt the very- itmeenarmstkongj stouffville to serve the students stouffetribiie ijtja thefirst step ihtiiat process is to get the 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