Mod Edit:  This discussion was split out of the Canadian Politics topic

My main complaint with the Teacher's Unions is the number of school days they have arranged not to hold class.  Looking at the school calendar just for this semester alone in my school district in BC, they have negotiated 4 day weekends in Feb., Apr. and May, plus a 2 week spring break in late March.  I don't have the pre-Christmas calendar available but it was more or less the same for the previous semester.

Taking into account the inconvenience, cost and loss of productivity to parents arranging their lives around these "no school days" would reveal a sizeable burden heaped upon the taxpayer above and beyond their negotiated salaries.

Split this off into its own topic.  KBF / Mark, I couldn't split out your whole discussion on the BC teachers deal in here because I lost interest after going back 6 pages and still didn't find its start.  

Feel free to continue that discussion here though.

8 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Is there a desire by the members to "weed out" (for lack of a better term) poor teachers?  Or is it a matter of not being able to be that picky?

No, because you can't. I have really good friends who go above and beyond every single day. However, sometimes (or years) you get a tough group or a difficult student. Without getting into too much legalize, you could be threading on the human rights of the students if you made those kinds of assessments 

20 hours ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Good question.  I would ask my parents that.  I know my nephew is enjoying his school right now save for one teacher who he claims is terrible.  I know he may just have it in for the guy but when the teacher got sick and a sub was called in, the class immediately improved for those two weeks that the "bad" teacher was away, and my nephew said he learned more in those two weeks than in six months with the "bad" one.  Apparently everyone knows this guy is a "bad" egg (according to my mom, who of course is actively involved in her grandkids education) but no one can do anything about him, as he has cleverly inserted himself inside the MTS apparatus, so is basically bullet-proof.  I know Mark may say this isn't true, but I am just going off of what my mom, a retired teacher and former MTS member (not by choice) is telling me.  Perhaps now with the Conservatives taking over the MTS's power may be curtailed a bit.  I know the BCTF was ruling the roost here in BC under the NDP, who even gave the BCTF the power to discipline their own members.  Guess how many were disciplined when a union was in charge of the discipline?  Not many.  Talk about a massive conflict of interest.  Just ridiculous.

Sure it's true, how couldn't it be? However, the NDP have also brought in things that are a negative for teachers. The new reports cards are terrible, especially at the elementary level. Also, funding for special needs students has decreased while expectations have increased. Again, we're back to that murky middle.