Cease-fire needed

Dear sir:
Well, they’re at it again. The Harris government continues his war against the teachers of Ontario!
First, they lengthened the school year, then the school day, then he cut teachers’ preparation time, then he required them to take mandatory update courses (they have been taking courses for years).
Now they’re proposing legislation that will make extra-curricular activities mandatory (we would be the only province in the country to have such legislation).
The rationale behind this recent proposed legislation is to stop teachers from withdrawing their services and causing the cancellation of athletic schedules, graduation exercises, and other student activities.
I have sympathy for these concerns. As a former coach and principal, I can appreciate the impact cancellation of these events has on students, especially for those in their final year. The proposed legislation, however, represents the Harris’ government sledgehammer approach to problems.
How is this regulation to be applied? The strength of the present extra-curricular program lies in the willing contribution of countless teachers to an activity they love and are willing to devote many hours and much energy to. If you make these activities compulsory, will you have the same devotion?
I have already heard comments from some coaches who have coached for years that if these activities become mandatory, they no longer will coach. What happens next? Is that coach bound to teach forever because he once volunteered to coach? Is he or she allowed to terminate their coaching career?
Teachers could fulfill the letter of this law by volunteering to look after the chess club. You can be sure that there won’t be too many teachers volunteering to supervise The Young Conservatives Club!
It should be mentioned, too, that if you remove from teachers this less disruptive bargaining tool, they will have to resort to a much more disruptive bargaining tool–the strike. Is this part of the strategy? To force teachers to strike rather than apply less extreme measures.
What is the aim of all this punitive legislation? The government would have us believe that it is to improve the quality of education. I wonder how the quality of education can be improved by removing millions of dollars from school funding, removing thousands of teachers from the classroom, and barraging teachers with piles of regulations.
The government was warned by the Education Improvement Commission that laying all these things on teachers at one time would have a negative effect on school morale, and a consequent effect on the quality of education, but they continue to pursue their agenda.
This government came into power advocating a Common Sense Revolution. A little common sense would be very appropriate at this juncture. Let the teachers teach. Don’t distract with any more mountains of regulations which are hard enough to keep track of, let alone follow.
How about a cease-fire before we are faced with another province-wide strike.
Bob Fryer
Fort Frances, Ont.