Ontario schools - closed for the remainder of year

Parents across this fine province of Ontario received upsetting yet already foretold, news today.
We had a feeling that the remainder of the school year would be canceled, but our Premier Doug Ford confirmed our fears this afternoon.

He feels that it's just too risky to send the kids back.
Can I disagree with him?
No. I actually support this move.

The wife and I were already discussing what our plan would be if schools were to reopen this academic year.

The teachers were on strike for the majority of the year so far here.
They recently negotiated a new deal which was approved a few weeks ago.

From the comments in the link above:
One of the teacher's arguments to get their pay hike was that E-learning was not a dependable nor feasible tool for teaching grade school students, Therefore they needed a raise.
Ontario teachers are still receiving full pay for posting work online, which amounts to only a few hours a week of actual work on their part.

Do you think teachers should receive full pay?

Ontario schools closed for remainder of school year

a reply to: Macenroe82

I really don't have a problem with this. My kids can learn more from me in a month than they'll learn all year in a public school. I hope we stay closed here. More daycares can be built to house kids too young to stay by themselves. Or open "summer" camps back up, or shops that you can send your kid to that teaches outdoor survival and such.

There are so many things we can do that will help our kids grow common sense. It's time to take advantage of it.

a reply to: Macenroe82

That won't happen here in the states.
Football starts in the fall....

And fire all the teachers.
They can negotiate a new deal when the schools open.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
Do you think teachers should receive full pay?

Teachers can still learn and up their knowledge in the meantime. Prepare and so on. It would be kind of a bad situation if teachers would leave their profession in order to keep afloat, something that has to be avoided.

So, yes, if they are productive.

No, if they just sit on their asses refusing other work, maybe work that is not related to teaching directly.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Macenroe82

That won't happen here in the states.
Football starts in the fall....

And fire all the teachers.
They can negotiate a new deal when the schools open.

I'd be a million percent okay with that, too.

a reply to: Shibari

I agree with that statement.
If these teachers are making themselves available to tutor the kids - longer than a 1-hour window a day for 30 kids.

If the kid isn't in the queue early enough to receive some one on one time with the teacher to understand the lesson, then screw the teacher. They should be available from 8 am until 4 pm daily.

Currently all 3 of my children - grades 6,7 and 10, just log into their homework website where there are a couple of paragraph explanations and a list of homework questions posted.
If they can't get ahold of the teacher during the 1-hour chat window, its try again tomorrow type of attitude.

One thing that was above and beyond, was my daughter's principal went out of his way to drop off a brand new laptop for her at our home when this all started.
She was using her Ipad, but wasnt able to get everything completed.
some of the homework wasn't displaying properly, or it wouldnt send.
He came by and dropped off a new Chromebook.

a reply to: Macenroe82
It is good to see these things happen and teachers and principals that have not given up or succumbed to a I-do-not-care-attitude.

a reply to: Shibari

Exactly.

There are too many of those types out there already.

Its nice to see some of the individuals involved with the school board, not thinking this is an early summer vacation.

How much longer were your schools set to be open in an otherwise normal school year?

This is the end of our academic year here. We have tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, and that's it.

a reply to: ketsuko

Until the beginning of June for Highschool, dependant on the day of the exam.

For elementary schools, June 30th would have been the last day

a reply to: Macenroe82

Ah, that makes more sense! Thanks.

We got the announcement that the schools would be closed out here about the beginning of April.

I do know that after the first week, our teachers ended up going with a 4-day week on e-learning. They said they needed the time so kids could catch up, and they could coordinate their planning better. I'm not sure exactly what this all looks like on their end but they have to scroll through and respond to everyone virtually as well as keep up with every kid's work.

It's probably like having a bottomless email queue.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Do you think teachers should receive full pay?

NO, absolutely NOT! They should get laid off just like everyone else! No work...no pay! It's really that simple. Now they can be victims of their same government master and his brilliant decisions!

They can have their pay raise, and then get laid off so they get no pay at all.

Screw all this nonsense!

ETA - OH wait...are you talking about the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, OR the entire rest of the year 2020 ??? (which would include the first half of the 2020-2021 school year). If the former, then I might not be so harsh.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Here's what I find interesting. At the end of last year (I think back to October), the Ontario government was pushing for e-learning, but received significant push back from parents. Teachers went on strike and quite honestly, I was on the fence.

globalnews.ca...

Global News has also learned the results show a majority of parents were opposed to the government moving towards more e-learning for students.

Now, is the timing just coincidence? Ontario was pushing for e-learning and Covid-19 popped up a few months later. Or, did someone know something?

Hey, this is a conspiracy website.

a reply to: TortoiseKweek

I like where you're going with that! lol

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

At this point in time, the Government is saying they will start the schools back up in September.

a reply to: TortoiseKweek

One of my son't lessons today was a Counselor lesson on what was good and bad about virtual learning.

He said he didn't like anything about it because he couldn't see anyone else, so I had to take some time to remind him that there had been some good points. I reminded him that he'd been able to work at his own pace, so he'd been able to finish his work much earlier in the day than regular school pacing allowed and then he's had upward of 3 to 4 hours to play outside with his friends in the neighborhood.

With normal school he only gets an hour, maybe an hour and a half before it's time to come in.

The big problem with it all the time is that for younger kids especially, you do need solid parental support.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: TortoiseKweek

I like where you're going with that! lol

Either it's just a truly strange coincidence, or there's more to it? 13 Jan 2020 The Toronto Star posts this article:

Secret document shows Ford government changed its mind before making online course mandatory for high schoolers

Marked “not for distribution,” the six-page document also envisioned allowing students to get high school diplomas “entirely online” starting in September 2024, a prospect Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation president Harvey Bischof called “weird.”

Lecce became education minister last June when his predecessor Lisa Thompson was shuffled out of the post into another cabinet portfolio after irritating school boards, teachers’ unions, parents and students during the Ford administration’s rocky first year in office.

It is not clear how the government made the leap from optional to mandatory online learning.

I think there's more to this.