NSW Teacher's Union Strike

Growing up in the North Eastern US, as a descendant of employees of the Pennsylvania Rail Road and Western PA coal mines I was brought up to be a moderate Democrat with very pro-union feelings. Wasn't too much worse than a scab in my parents house. Picket lines were lines written in blood and pain.  They were to be honored and supported...at all costs.

Now having those same thoughts and beliefs while living in Texas made me a granola-munching, tree-hugging pinko commie, good-for-nothing soldier hater.  In fact, I used to shock many native Texans when I said how humbled I was by those in military service and how shameful it was how poorly our vets were treated. They could never reconcile that I didn't blame immigrants for poisoning the well but but still argued for vets rights. I do that a lot I think, I confuse the Hell outta people. I'm ok with that, in fact, I may put that on a t-shirt.

I mention this to try and establish some street cred for myself before I start talking about the Aussie way of striking. Let me also add that some of my very best friends are teachers...ok, that was a bit of a joke but both my parents were teachers. My father, a natural born instructor, had to leave the profession in order to provide for his family. That is an honest to goodness crime in my book.  Humanity lost something spectacular the day Frank Welch couldn't afford to teach anymore.  Well, Humanity's loss was my gain.  My mother was a principal at a Catholic school and never earned more than $25,000 a year. I know all to well what it's like living on a teachers salary and the nicest way to put it is that it sucks. You just don't get the expensive senior prom dress on a teachers salary. Yes, I'm still bitter. Leave me alone.

Trust me, I am PRO teacher. I'm such a closet socialist that I think all organized education is doing it wrong. Instructors should be rock stars and all kids should demand knowledge as their birthright.  The idea that the quality of learning is dependent on on wealth is truly obscene to me.

Yea, yea....I know, in what REAL world Che? But if you don't visualize Utopia how can there be any hope of it becoming reality? Hmmmm, yet another shirt idea...I am on a roll.  May send that bad boy off to Thinkgeek.com  Yes, I know it's not really Geek but what the Hell?  Worth a shot....

That being said, the Aussie way of striking confuses the HELL out of me. Back home union and management scum disagree. They yell at each other at a few meetings. Management says no, union says try to work without us. They strike. They leave work. Management may or may not hire loser scabs to try and do work. Strike lasts a day, a week, months or years until one side caves, resolutions are made, both sides claim victory and work resumes. The end.

Here inOz the NSW government does something to piss off the teachers. The teachers union rallies the teachers and they announce...in advance...that there will be a work stoppage... Usually 2 hours. During this 2 hours teachers have a union meeting and discuss why they are pissed and then.... now get this...they go back to work....at the time they said they would.

For tomorrow they must be extra cheesed because they have called for a 24 hour stoppage-essentially the whole day. Then they will go back to work on Thursday.

From what I can piece together the idea is that parents will be so hacked that they will demand that their government reps , called PM's, will acquiesce to whatever the teachers want.

Um...why the Hell would they do that? YOU'VE GONE BACK TO WORK ALREADY. Yes, the teacher's  didn't like what the government said they were going to do, duly noted. So what?

Let me say this again - I am PRO teacher. I'm keeping my kids home tomorrow and I have nothing but positive feelings towards my schools teachers. Let me put this in print:  I love and cherish all the teachers at Normanhurst Public School.  I think you are wonderful. You are grossly underpaid.  You are tragically under-appreciated for the work you do. If our teachers actually walked out I would support them. I would walk the picket line with them, drop off dinners to their families and bitch to every damn parliament member there is demanding that they get our teachers back.

But this kind of striking just pits the teachers against the parents. Working parents despertly trying to find extra child care for 2 hours while trying to earn a living. Parents trying to juggle the normal every day schedule of the week...this causes stress for parents...not for government.

Teachers, I love ya, but you are pissing off the wrong group. In the end teachers and parents are on the same side- quality education.  Parents want it and need it.  Teachers want it and need it. Happy educators mean quality education. We want this, I swear, but if you keep jacking with us you will force us to be against you and I promise you, the wrong people will win.  Most of all, the children will lose.

So tomorrow while our teachers are meeting and trying to develop strategies to improve school conditions and I will be trapped in a showing of Brave with at least 9 munchkins - the people who can sign off on making the changes you want?  What will they be doing?  They will be sitting on their asses, in their offices, just as they did today and just as they will tomorrow and 2 days from now. Twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the worms to turn until you are back at work. Only now,  teachers and students are a day behind in their term work, parents are frazzled and pissy about the extra work on them and the powers-that-be?  What will Mr. Barry O'Farrell and the leaders of our state government be doing?

Sitting on their asses, in their offices, on the phone telling every media agent they can what selfish prats the teachers are... all while NOT making the changes you need.


Please, re-think this plan.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

After school yesterday the girls started talking about a boy at school who was chasing everyone and trying take things from kids. He's in ED, a special class on our campus that helps kids from other schools who are having severe anger management troubles. Both Tessi and her friend plus Connor started lamenting the woes of this holy terror Ben.  Connor then said that he chased her today and had her pinned against the wall and wouldn't let her go for a while.  Immediately I launched into ass-kicking mode as I myself, had a bit of a stramash today with some ED kids while at Canteen.

I explained to Connor today that she has every right to defend herself if someone is behaving badly and hurting her.  I said the next time Ben or anyone else pinned her like that and refused to let her go she should pull her knee up between their legs and dry to drive it up to their chin.

Boy or girl, that hurts.

I got a few giggles but then all the girls agreed it was a good idea. Ben was a real problem.  Even Tool Cool for Words Teddy agreed. He didnt know the kid offhand but he offered to rack the kid for her tomorrow if Connor didn't think she could do it. Ahh, the bonds of love, I'm feeling it now. I continued on, saying that Daddy and I would go and talk to the principal and she didn't have to put up with this.

Feeling love and support Connor announced she did have "back up" with her friends and felt she could handle it.

Thats when she mentioned Ben was in Year 1.

Connor is in Year 3.

Then Connor added that Ben was very short for a Year 1, to which the younger girls agreed very loudly. "Yes, he's angry, but he is really, really short"

I have just told my freakishly tall Year 3 daughter - she is taller than many YEAR 5 kids, to rigorously defend herself by viciously kneeing a freakishly small Year 1 kid.

Obviously I back peddled as fast as I could and told her to try gently pushing back at his shoulders. To use her words to stop him and of course call a teacher for help.

I think you and I both know that I'm getting a call from school today.