Teachers and Government in Nova Scotia

A rational sane person can only sit by and watch the WWE style entertainment that is the
ongoing bickering of the NSTU and the NS Liberal Government for so long, without their head
starting to succumb to the vacuum that is created. (At least that is my perspective, and exactly
how I feel). So to this point, I had to sit at the keyboard and download my thoughts, more for
self-preservation and to clarify my own sanity than to try and sway anyone elses opinions.
Much like a great suspense novel, this debacle has all of the ingredients for a great motion
picture, variables a plenty, a cast of supposed villains, as well as potential heroes, and a story line
that hands the audience the potential to sit and yell at a screen No!!! You idiot, everyone knows
not to go down in the basement once the Power has gone out!!! Dont do it!!! And of course, the
main character does it anyway.
For those that dont know me, I am a product of the education system, High School in the
70s/80s, 2 University degrees, I voted Liberal, and have many close friends in the Liberal
Party, as well I have spent many hours with todays students outside of the classroom, coaching
them, parenting them, and have a great deal of understanding of what makes todays Millennials
tick. Do I have any Government experience? NO, do I have any teaching experience? NO,
do I have firsthand knowledge of Teachers workloads in or out of the classroom? NO Do I
know how the NS Government can best balance their budget and keep every tax payer happy?
NO.
What I do have is hours of research so I could better understand the situation, countless
conversations with participants on both sides to try and understand their positions, and years of
experience working in industries outside of politics and Education for comparisons sake. So
armed with this information and admitting my ignorance in pretty well all aspects of the dispute,
I am still, to the disappointment of almost everyone who knows me, going to attempt to ask some
questions and offer some suggestions to maybe, just maybe convince both sides to change the
way they think, and get back to resolving the issue and improving our education system.
Firstly let me clarify a few things that I will not try to address. I dont care how much was spent
on the Bluenose, nor on the Yarmouth Ferry, nor do I give a rats ass when an MLA qualifies for
a pension, when it is vested, and what they get for expenses. No matter when this debate takes
place, there will always be a controversial Government investment that the Public hates (and the
Government probably does too, but they are stuck with it), People will always moan about
politicians income, expenses, and every other perk, but 99% would never commit the time it
takes to step up and represent the taxpayer in the most thankless job ever. So lets just not go
down that road, and lets stick to education, teachers and the issues at hand.

The Big Picture

Right off the bat, lets be clear, nowhere do I read or have I heard that either party will just admit
that there is a bigger picture. To me that bigger picture is this.
1. There are only so many dollars in the coffers and the taxpayer wont stand to just throw
their money half hazardly at the problem to solve it. NSTU denies this, but it is a fiscal
fact
2. Todays classroom and student are not what they were 20even 10 years ago. The
demands on todays educators are much more stressful than they were in that bygone era,
The Liberal Government denies this, but it is a societal fact.
The question, given these 2 facts becomes easy. How do we manage a budget, and give
Teachers the tools they need to educate our youth in todays arena we call a school? The
question is indeed simple; it is the answers that are messy and complicated.
NSTU has stated, according to my research, 16 points that they would like to see addressed, and
The Liberal Government has put a price tag on each of them. What better way to lay out my
suggestions then to follow that format. Let it be known, I have a full time job, and a blended
family, pets, volunteer time etc., so my resources for research are at a bare minimum, if I am
misquoting any assumptions or facts, please feel free to correct me, in fact I invite it, how else
would I better educate myself on the topic? Just do me a favour and read the entire tirade before
you start to heckle me or throw stones please.

Breaking Down the Issues

1) Wage Increases
I am not going to attempt to quantify every way in which salaries can be compared or
ranked, that would simply lead to debate over interpretation of data. Lets just say that
drawing from Statscan as well as other provincial departments of education data, Nova
Scotia ranks above many Have provinces after factoring in cost of living when it comes
to Median Teacher salary (outperforming PEI, Newfoundland, Quebec and BC), and
within 5% of Ontarios wages (which may be one of the only industries where that
exists). On top of this, to just put it all in perspective, Canada ranks top 5 in the world
when it comes to Teachers salaries, (behind only Luxembourg, Korea, Austria and
Germany).
So when I hear that teachers are grotesquely underpaid for the work that they do, I cry
foul! The sympathy seeking when it comes to how we compensate the people that we
entrust the education of our children to is just plain rhetoric.
Lets face it, yes they endure 50-55 hour work weeks, and have to do work from home.
Well Guess what? Anyone who isnt punching a time clock in a factory, or working a
minimum wage job, is doing the same thing, the only difference is the rest of us dont get
a week off for March Break, 2 weeks for Christmas, 8 week s in the Summer, and
countless snow days.
Suck up the wage increase, admit that you are overpaid compared to the average middle
class Nova Scotian, take it off the table and put those funds towards hiring more EAs
and teachers to address your admitted real needsthe classroom.
2) Service Awards/Pensions
Lets face it, Service Awards are a dinosaur that the current economy cannot support.
Yes, it was a nice perk in its day, but the reality is, that outside of Government jobs, they
rarely exist anymore. Besides historical perspective, there is no justification for such an
award. The idea of justifying handing someone the better part of a years salary, after
paying them fairly for their time, and just before handing them a no risk pension for the
rest of their life, is not an entitlement, it is a perk that fewer than 5% of the population
receives.
I am truly sorry if you factored that money in to your retirement planning, and it may
mean that you may have to work a year or two longer to retire. The reality is the last time
the stock market tumbled and my pension/RRSP reserves lost 14% of their value,
Teachers just yawned and flipped to the Sports section, because it didnt affect their
Defined Benefit Pension one iota. Oh, wait a minute, yes it did. It caused their pension to
crack $1B underfunded, and then the government forced my tax dollars up in order to
help fund that deficit. The service award should be abolished and the Pension Plan should

be Direct Contribution. The savings can be put towards retooling classrooms and funding
more ample planning time for teachers. Everyone knows it, especially Premier McNeil;
just no one has the guts to say it. Word of advice to Premier McNeil, you may as well just
go on the record and say it, everyone hates you already, at least let them hate you for
something that the rest of the population is thinking but doesnt want to rock the boat by
saying it to their teacher friends.
3,4,5) Planning Time/Prep time/Assessment Coverage
Alright, time to switch gears. Yes the average public thinks that Teachers have a cushy
job, stroll in at 8:30, day is done at 3 PM, only have to teach 4 classes in that time, and
drink coffee the rest of the day. I know better, at least I think I do, and to all my teacher
friends (If I have any left after the first 2 points), correct me if I am wrong.
The inclusive classroom, and IPPs are killing the typical classroom, and watering down
the quality of the average education to the lowest denominator. Hey I am all for including
people with physical, mental and social handicaps into the school system, but not to the
point where teachers are so distracted by the minority of the population that the majority
suffers. This is a real issue that needs to be addressed, and if we are to keep inclusive
classrooms, we need to have much better resources to do it, and that means more bodies
in the classroom to handle those inclusions. Get your head out of the sand Premier
McNeil and Minister Casey and listen to the people on the front lines and let them tell
you what they need. It is either back to Special Ed classes, or provide the resources to
deal with the special needs, plain and simple. That means more preparation and planning,
and more bodies in the classroom.
6) Working Conditions Partnership
This topic is just plain embarrassing that it even is on the list. If NSTU and the
Government are just figuring out that a committee of Teachers, Legislators, Parents and
School board members talking and discussing openly how they can improve is a good
idea, then God help us if we ever want to change any of the other topics. Seriously
people?? You need a bargaining topic that translates to Lets try and work together and
include all the players to see what we can improve???
7) Photocopying
See #6. Really??? I have worked as an Engineer, a Manager of Tradespeople, A
travelling salesman, a Technical Specialist in the Chemical field and an Automotive sales
Professional. In every one of these professions, if I ever complained that I needed an
assistant to help me with the hordes of paperwork and photocopying, I would have a pink
slip in the next pay envelope. Give your head a shake, the next request will be a
subservient secretary to take dictation and type your next set of class notes. I dont think
so. As before, take the estimated $13M/yr., that the Liberals put on the price tag of hiring

an extra admin person at each school, get in line, do your own copying, even if God
forbid you have to do it after 3:30 PM, and take those wages and employ another EA to
help in those inclusive classrooms.
8,9) Attendance/Discipline Policies
OK, shoe is squarely back on the other foot, and it is pointed at the Governments butt
now!!
This topic really burns my britches!!! I have seen this one transpire over the last few
years, and yes it probably started under the NDPs watch, but Minister Casey, you can fix
this one very easily.
Just as easily as you can send out notices that Christmas Concerts are cancelled due to
work to rule action by NSTU, why not try this for an option.
Send a note home this Friday to all parents that simply states, As of Monday Morning, if
your child misses XX classes this year, they will not advance. If your Child constantly
disrupts our classes, they will be suspended. If your child doesnt pass in their assignment
when it is due, they will get a big fat ZERO! If you have any questions, wait until the
next parent teacher conference, because its not open for debate.
I think that about sums it up. We the Baby Boomers and Generation Xers keep asking
why the Millennials cant cope in todays work environment, well guess what, its
because our education system taught them that they dont have to obey rules, or turn in
work on time or even pass a test and everything will be OK, they will get a ribbon and a
plaque anyway. Get this fixed now before we ruin another generation of whiners that
need to be pandered to, please.
This policy change alone would probably gain teachers back a good wasted hour of every
day so they can deal with the majority of the population that wants to learn, not the ones
who rob them of their time, because they arent allowed to deal with their spoiled
bulls**t attitudes.
10,12) Adaptations and Data Entry
For those of you who dont know, Adaptations translates to Powerschool or a tool that
is used by over 1 Million teachers to improve productivity and communication between
Teacher/Student/Parent. Well, here is a quick lesson from other industries, are you
listening??? Data and good data improves performance, and productivity, as well as
making learning from our experiences easier and more effective. Here is another lesson.
We out here in the world outside of the classroom all hated CRM, Salesforce, Asana and
every other productivity tool, we all hated having to do the data entry so that the results
of using the tool would be accurate. But we all had it stuffed down our throat, and had to
deal with it, and from my perspective, I couldnt have worked effectively without it after
the growing pains.

So here is my pitch on this topic. How about we take snow days, 2 days out of your week
off in March, 2 days of your 2 weeks at Christmas, and 1 week out of the 8 you get off in
the summer, and make those Data Entry days. That would leave Teachers with still twice
as many days off as the average middle class employee in a year. I dont think that it is
too much of a stretch, nor do I think that the average tax paying Nova Scotia citizen
would have very much of an issue with you reaching into that pool of time to deal with
your whining about data entry. As opposed to asking them to reach into their taxpaying
pocket and pull out their hard earned cash so the government can afford to pay you extra
to enter the data. Get with the program already, and look around, the world is changing
and data makes the world go around, keep up or find somewhere else to complain,
because not too many people are really sympathetic to your plight of data entry.
As a side note, I really have been hoping that with all of this data collection and time
supposedly spent on Report Cards, that by now I would have seen a Report Card that said
more than Rowan is a good student in the comment section. Dont you remember the
report cards we all used to get Brian constantly talks in class, and I think he is growing
a jungle under his desk. His handwriting is atrocious, but somehow he is producing well
above average results. He is a pleasure to teach if it wasnt for the unending sarcasm.
Now that is a comment, and it was from 1979I am sure with all these improvements we
are discussing we can get back to good old human observation and feedback please.
11) Limit IPPs
As has been my practice all through this meandering self-proclaimed solution to
everything from the guy who has never taught a day in his life (Hows that for a title??)
I flip flop on this one as well. I have stated clearly my opinion on how to deal with Kids
that shouldnt be passed and should really be in grade 4 not grade 10. I also believe that
the funds that are being saved in my solution spiel will provide ample assistance in the
classroom to deal with the remaining IPPs. Yes that may be a shallow response, but I
agree with the Teachers on this one. How can a teacher plan a curriculum when she has
10 middle of the road students, 4 all-stars, 3 kids that should have failed kindergarten, 1
moderately autistic student who hits himself all day, 1 kid who doesnt speak English,
and that kid who at the drop of a hat will pick up his desk and throw it out the window,
because You cant do anything about it!!
Please take the funds that we have saved above by having an honest conversation about
wages, Pensions, and Service awards, and get some EAs and extra teachers to deal with
the exceptions, so the Teacher can teach a curriculum that isnt going to make todays
Grade 10 Math look like 1990s grade 5 math.

13,14,15) Union Veto Rights

Believe it or not, I dont think that I have any right to speak on this topic, and I really
cant speak to what the NSTU should have the right to Veto or not. However if we got
that Working Conditions Partnership thing in #6 working, I bet these Vetos would
quickly become a moot point.
16) Class Caps for all Grade Levels
Should there be 45 students in a Grade 12 Calculus class? Absolutely not!! Would
solving the issues with Discipline, attendance, and inclusion for everyone and their IPPs
enable a teacher to be able to handle more than 25 students in that class? Probably. So the
answer is somewhere in between, but in no way should it cost the taxpayer the estimated
$41M in extra teachers that the Liberal Government has estimated.
Conclusion
Well if you have made it this far, you probably are well in to your plan to draw and
quarter me, or maybe public lynching??? Or maybe, just maybe, some of my assumptions
have hit a nerve or made you think.
As I have said, I started this exercise with a large population of friends on both sides of
the table, and I hope to keep the majority of them as friends.
I am not claiming to have all of the solutions. I have already stated clearly that some of
my assumptions may be completely off track, and that I have never spent a day trying to
teach a class.
I have written my opinions from a 180 degree opposite position as to how I typically
approach conflict, from the extreme Right, my brash Trump like analysis and off the cuff
commentary. But I have done this for a reason.
Everyone is tired of the Liberal Government always going back to the limited budget and
not owning up to the mistakes they and past Governments have made with respect to
Discipline, Attendance, and Inclusion etc. From the opposite side, I (and many others I
am sure, who usually choose not to rock the boat) am tired of NSTU making the
Government out to be akin to Baby Killers and putting our Kids lives in danger if we
dont bow down to the poor Teachers demands. I think I can also safely say that besides
my Conservative friends, we are getting pretty tired of Jamie Baillie just sitting back and
sucking up the political fodder for the next elections pulpit talking points (For Gods
sake, either offer a solution, or at least forget Partisan Politics and work together with the
Liberals to solve these issues instead of sitting back saying I could do better!!)

Its time for some reality checks. Like it or not, Nova Scotias economy is not strong,
there IS a limited budget to work with, and I have chosen to stick only to the topic of
education for where the dollars could come from, because it is always better to look
within first. That and the fact that if I were to pontificate on all of the other possible
sources of funding for education this would go on even longer than the current incessant
rambling of a frustrated wanna be politician and parent.
To both sides, if you are going to get dirty, at least get dirty with some real soul
searchinglook at the other sides position, give a pound of flesh, it can be healthy if you
try. And stop saying you are doing this for our kidsif you havent noticed; they are the
ones suffering the most with the most to lose.
Now please, let the comments and feedback flow. Dont hold back, give me your best
opinion where you think I am wrong, and prove it. I can only benefit from it. Hopefully
in doing so, we can all take a step forward instead of standing here, feet in concrete, not
willing to budge.

Respectfully:

Brian Sanderson