Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 28, 1996, Winnipeg, Manitoba Brian Cole 6977044 readers forum Winnipeg free press a 1 o March 1996 i o spare successful system from the knife let teacher salaries stand by Allan Levine special to the free press desperate times require Des Perate at that what the Manitoba department of education and some members of the provincial government would have us after More than 30 years of paying the provinces teachers according to a salary Structure developed by then Premier Duff Roblins administration in the Early 60s based on educational achievement and the time apparently has come to make some the same goes for the collective bar gaining process that has prevented teacher strikes since 1957 by imposing binding arbitration when disputes have Arisen during the past 39 the main reasons for examining these crucial at Public hearings now Are set out in the education departments discussion enhancing ensuring compiled by a committee headed by conservative la George simply there is a Public perception in some quarters that teachers earn too much Money for too Little work that they enjoy two months of holidays and sub Stantial All at taxpayers expense and that they Are it is a View that ignores the countless hours teachers spend meeting with Stu dents and parents outside of regular school hours preparing lessons on week marking essays late into the coaching sports and staging school musicals As Well As trying to adjust them selves to dealing with a vast array of social and economic issues that earlier generations of educators if in these Days of fiscal with local education budgets being Cut to the Bone primarily because of a decrease in provincial Grants to Public school boards ways have to be found to slash the boards largest expense not it is teachers according to the Manitoba teachers since the 199293 school the conservatives have reduced Money granted to Public schools by Mil which has resulted in the Elimina Tion of 600 teaching but it has not been raising already High taxes to make up the shortfall is not an acceptable the Manitoba association of school trustees has petitioned the Fil Mon government to initiate a review of the collective bargaining in Exchange for altering the arbitration process in ways that ultimately would give trustees or More the provincial Cabinet More control Over Mast would be willing to con Sider reintroducing strikes and lockouts into the provincial educational the whole tone of this discus Sion document is about How to introduce a managerial style approach into the school system to operate it As a private business linking employee salaries to annual Revenue and the problem is such an approach May not be appropriate in administering Man Tobas or put More succinctly by professor Ken of the University of Manitoba faculty of Educa managerial accountability makes sense if youre making but not when you Are teaching your in their desire to enhance accountability and ensure the authors of this document make Many Sev eral of which deserve a closer Examina Tion teachers salaries after surveying what teachers Are paid in other provinces and salaries paid to graduates in other the document concludes salaries of Manitoba teachers appear High com pared to those in other when the relative economic position of each province is there Are seven classifications on the teachers salary Structure used in Mani Toba with 10 Levels corresponding to 0 to 9 years of experience within each a teacher graduating with a fou year Bachelor of education degree is paid at a class 4 according to the salary schedule of the Winnipeg school division in place for january for a teacher with a bed would have received an annual salary of a class 4 teacher with 10 years of experience would have been paid a teacher with a masters degree would be at a class 6 and with 10 years of experience would have been paid the majority of Manitoba or so teachers Are paid at class 4 or 5 level and most have six years or More of exp in comparing salaries for teachers across Canada at a class 4 maximum the discussion using data obtained from the Alberta school Board found Manitoba educators rank behind British Columbia and educational achievement As in Many other teachers Are rewarded for obtaining higher a Bache Lor degree earns one salary a pad Aneth the provincial document raises the question of whether or not the educational system in Manitoba derives sufficient Benefit from paying teachers for acquiring additional years of beyond the fact that it would be an Odd irony if the professionals who Edu Cate children were told their own supplementary education has no As a recent free press editorial Manitoban have to ask themselves what kind of teachers they want teaching their it would be difficult to dispute that the acquisition of More knowledge is Worth especially by professionals who want to provoke discussion and explore different Points of of the ingredients for Good teaching also derives from the enthuse personality and experience of the individual but a comprehensive grasp of the material being especially at the Junior and High school is it Marks the difference Between a teacher who relies strictly on the text Book and one who has the Confidence and knowledge base to offer his or her students much in but Proba Bly not All supplementary Educa Tion is linked to a particular teachers area of in any taxpayers will have to decide if having teachers with masters degrees who receive higher salaries is beneficial for their accountability and performance measurement under the salary teachers receive an increment of about five per cent within their class As they Complete another year of service and move up the Grid until they reach the after working 10 pay raises Are dependent upon the collective bargain ing process negotiated each the Dis Cussion document rightly asks whether this movement along the Grid should be automatic or subject to some Type of for Mal the authors the question that needs to be addressed is whether teachers should be accountable for these system related pay increases in order to ensure the provision of Quality educational services to students and build Public Confidence in the school sys there Are probably few professions More accountable than even Large tend to be a Community unto everyone from the Prin Cipal on Down generally knows whats going when effective teaching is Tak ing place and when it is Are there More efficient and pre Cise ways than classroom visits to Mea sure this should a teacher who regularly receives poor evaluations automatically move up a level on the salary Grid the document suggests that school wide student peer ratings by other and student and administrative evaluations May be one direction to teachers support All types of reason Able and fair but Are rightly concerned that formal evaluations through testing As the basis to determine an individuals salary would ignore the multitude of factors and variables eco nomic health neigh boyhood environment that make one school different than the in the final Many of the labor and salary issues facing trustees and teachers revolve around the Lack of it has to be acknowledged that Manitoba school boards do not have bottomless pits of As Carolyn president of Points it is up to the provincial government to find reasonable solutions beyond simply slashing budgets and in the process not Only the salaries of Man Tobas but also dismantling a salary classification system that has worked Well for the past three Allan Levine is a Winnipeg historian and he teaches at Johns Raven court looking for a Check the paper letters to the editor heres a thought for All those Able bodied people on welfare who Are complain ing about reductions in their Bene and calling the proposed work for welfare program cruel and if you what your lives would be like if your monthly Cheque from the City was think about what an ordeal that would now that would be truly i should since that what i receive from the City every that i get absolutely and As a result of this deplorable situation i have to get up every morning at and go to work to support myself and my their of is that there Are no there were eight pages of help wanted advertisements in last saturdays free i suppose they would argue they cant afford to buy a Patrick Winnipeg effective habits wont feed poor lord help the people of Are being governed under the influence of the Sage advice of an american Popman gement guru management guru guides province free March does this mean that for answers on All those Tough questions on health and the social safety Premier his Cabinet and leading bureaucrats reach for Stephen covers the seven habits of highly effective people such Complex problems can not be solved with any 12or 1001step self improvement pro All of the motivational tapes in the world playing to the ears of government officials will not help unemployable welfare recipients make ends meet at the end of the in the Wake of recent cuts to their i Only Hope the taxpayers will not be paying for Hilmons seat at covers upcoming seminar in win wait a maybe Hilmons adoration of Covey could be used to help the people of Manitoba in a tangible maybe Filmon could give a per How to reach us the free press welcomes letters from letters must be signed and should include a clearly printed address and Telephone names will be published but not All letters May be edited for style and Short letters Are less Likely to be please address letters to letters to the Winnipeg free 1355 Mountain Winnipeg r2x letters can be sent to our fax number letters May be submitted through the internet at letters letters sent via the internet obviously cannot be but must include Home address and Telephone Sonal testimonial on the wonderful impacts of covers ideas on one of those lat night Inforno rials Hawk ing the Stephen Covey leadership Centre of the proceeds from Hilmons appearance could then be turned Over to those single Moth ers on welfare trying to feed their the student trying to get a University or the patient waiting for a triple Kevin Vessey Winnipeg has no right to dictate Trade human decency and human rights come before the Damn Dol Lar seems to serve the sometimes paranoid american ego Only when it fits their political when big Bucks Are such As Trade with human rights and decency seem to when the a rioted states wanted to capture a single it did not hesitate to invade Panama and kill hundreds of innocent humans in the let us be no individual including the United has the International Legal right to or even the free Trade of other countries just to serve its political Dietrich Gummelt Winnipeg Low fat diet a healthy option we would like to commend your newspaper for the article on Dean Ornish More than just food for Dean Ornish and the importance of a Low fat vegetarian diet to the prevention and reversal of heart disease free March it is so sad that few Manitoban indeed few Manitoba healthcare professionals Are familiar with Ornisha Ornish is certainly not alone in his As Many other North american vegetarian physicians and dietitians advocate the healthful benefits of a Low fat vegetarian Large scale studies like the Framingham heart study Princi pal investigator William my and the China diet and health study principal investigator Colin of Cornell University continue to Demon Strate significant links Between the consumption of Anima based foods with chronic diseases such As cardiovascular breast and prostate gastrointestinal disorders and such stud ies continue to demonstrate the preventive effects a Low fat vegetarian diet have on these same chronic we urge the Manitoba health care Community and our govern ment especially the departments of health and agriculture to take a closer look at the significant role our diet plays in our especially in these times of healthcare financial restraint and preventive significantly More Effort needs to be Given to encourage a Funda mental shift towards a plan based diet from an Anima based these ideas Are much More than just food for Dennis Bayoumi Winnipeg try life in the real world i would like to respond to the let Ter printed in the free press on March 13 from Darryl i was flattered to be compared to the fictional super James and certainly wish i could claim his super human capabilities in resolving International espionage Capers in the two hours allotted to Hollywood in reality my efforts to bring accountability to our Domestic Grain marketing As focused As they have have taken Over two i wish Toews would try life in the real a world where Normal folks would find no humor in being awakened from sleep to be told you will be dead in half an hour or to be told by an Anonymous caller that i could end up dead if i pursue my attempts to open up the Canadian wheat at no time did i implicate the wheat Board in these Toews mentioned my copy of written by the former highly ranked officer for Canadas communications Security Stab Mike Mike met with me to share similar concerns on the Lack of accountability to canadians within our government i would recommend that Toews get himself a copy of this Best Selling Book and read pages 225 and 226 referencing the Canadian wheat Board activities in the marketing of our Morden Why people e work has our society grown so selfish and Lazy during the last 30 years that weve lost the self respect to go out and earn the right to exist everywhere you there Are people asking for handouts and now that the government is cutting Back in order to save our Economy in the All you hear is although the unemployment rate in this country is per there Are Many jobs to be go to the unemployment Centre and from a frontage Why is it so bad that single employable couples with children of school and couples with no children have to work for a As of they Are Only getting some tax credits i want assigned legislated work for the unemployed and Wel fare is welfare supposed to provide a better life than what Hon hardworking people make on minimum wage Ryan Clark Winnipeg doonesbury i just Hap a by Garry Trudeau of 016 700acco without i but now ;