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a- r hi v isai x n tmchersyftre cv- by jennifer brown staff writer hen doug lang landed a job teaching in york region 13 years ago he thought hewas set for life 7 hed spent the first two of his career teaching on anisolated native reserve in hormernontan6ahd when he found himself baclc inear his home 1 town of stoufviuevrcang felt he had found the promised land t he had a positiortteaching in a nice community school north of toronto in one of the fastestgrowing and progres sive boards in ontario n when im in my- classroom i love my job says the 39yearold lang- but oyer 4the last few years the richmond hill teacher says he feels like the kid being bullieid in the school yard as a result of changes to the education system that have put jeachers under the microscope and hes had enough lang is leaving his job at joseph a gibsonpiiblic school in maple hoping to find greater satisfaction and respect at a school half way around the world x jnext fall he will stand before a class- room of children at a private school of 1200 students in bahrain a small but wealthy country in the middle east he has signed a twoyear contract with an option to extend his stay i never envisioned this figured i would retire here says lang the grade 8 teacher could continue j to teach in york region r in fact the 1 board will hire an additional 400 teach- ers this year c but he says after five years of eridur- ing a constant barrage of criticism lev- eled at teachers by both the mike harris government and the public he has had 2 enough lang says he has many reasons fok leaving but most include a government he says which has targeted teachers from the first day it came to power j t id have to say 90 per cent of my decision was made because of the harris government says lang its been the constant pushing and they continue to push the teacher testing pushed me over the edge with the new curriculum and corre- sponding new report cards lang saysr teachers are testedjby parents every time their children receive report cards so why not switch to a private school in ontario lang feelsthat wouldnt take him j a sahdwicht 38 appreciation day 1 this saturday april 29 2000 1100 am to 700 pm only buy one footlpng sub at regular priceand staff photosteve somerville york region public board teacher doug lang is packing hiscredentials and heading overseas where he says teachers are respected paid better and can escape constant unrest with the government s away from the current harris agen da i felt i had to get away from the policies coming down and i am cer- tain they will reach the private sys- tem lang argues he is not leaving because he is afraid of the proposed testing of teachers in fact in bahrain he will be tested twice a year i have total confidence in my i abilityto teach and report to parents its the fact harris has convinced the public were so incompetent that 1 we need to be tested every three years thats the part that bothers me r the decision to leave wasnt easy cator are in demand v at a recent job fair at queens university in kingston lang was courted by nine international schools including ones from china egypt and mexico there were actually 18 schools that showed interest but he culled from the group before him i didnt havetimeto go seethem all and i knew i could be picky he says i narrowed it down to coun tries where the- schools were quasi safe f and lang wont be alone many ontario teachers will head overseas nextyear of the four main job fairs held to hire for overseas schools butlang says he wont go through the first is held in kingston followed t v3- oiequal or lesser price fi v not valid with any- other offers limit 3 specials per family purchase -t- v v f u v- f ri please no phone orders accepted 5812 main stfw stouffvillek 6422683 v v j aptpr sale savings coupons sub i whenyou buy- i any subof equals or greater priceand subwrv 990 h subijyrv when you buy 11 w j any sub of equal r yu n l i i i i i i s812 main st w stouffville j 5812 main st w stouffville m or greater price and i a medium soft drinkj p ccqrl a medium soft drink i not valid with any othr offers l not valid with any other offers limit one coupon per family visit a i valid umtt one couponper family visit i j cu valid april 30 to mayfooool another strike i see if barreling towards us- we all hope it doesnt happen theres not one teacher who wants astrike but there isnta lot of common ground between the government politicians and teachers during the last strike lang chose not to picket but to stay home until the strike ended vthe staff at my school respected my decision he says but the union wasnt so under- standing v f he had to appear at a hearing and ii c 1u u by boston des moines iowa and sari francisco w they hit canada first that says a lot says lang even thews is recruiting teach- ers and theyre coming to ontario and alberta that tells you some thing s in bahrain lang will teach english to grades 7 and schildreri whose first language is arabicbut who alfspeak english 7 lang chose bahrain because of the perks it offers a taxfree salary of 30000 paid furnished- accom- received sanctions involving the modatiori all moving- expenses- publication of his name on a list and health insurance and transportation was banned from running for feder including a free flight back to canada atiorfoffice t j inthejsummer larigsays he isnt running away a veteran teacher here is paid from tabour unrest just going where 68000 butlangsays when you con- he can do what he loves teach sider his aftertaxincome in ontario i dont want tosuike but i am mmutf rus rent aridfother expense going because i want to teach there hellcomebutontbp isnt enough money to keepip with yy on the professional side he has the needs of me curriculum here been guaranteed a classroom of 20 in bahrain and many other children here hisclass tops 33 countries aroundthe world lang despite the negotiated pupil teacher says his skills as anexpehericededu- ratio of 122 at the york region board fast facts the york region district school board will hire 400 new teachers this year v f x in remote but wealthy bahrain in v the middle east teachers are skill j tested twice a year v t- the teacher union levels sanctions against members who dont picket publicizes those names on a list arid bans those members from running for union positions in bahrain and many other countries around the world the skills of experienced j educators are in high demand teachers from canada are courted by at least 18 international schools including those in china egypt and mexico lang will teach english togrades 7 arid 8 to children whose first language is arabic but who all speak english bahrain offers a taxfree salary of 30000 paid furnished accommodation all moving expenses health insijranceand trarisportatibn including afree flight back to x canada in the summer lc f ms wi ki vtvfv ijifcv s if iv iiivt fci aavrtyka rjr iim m p v v some classes have 33 students despite the rietiatedpupik teacher ratio of 122 at the local boarcft