Good News for Ontario's Teachers

Teachers across the province were cheering last week as they learned of the plans of Mike Harris, Ontario’s Premier. Harris has announced his resignation. This announcement has not been met with cries of sorrow, it has been met with cries of relief and even happiness. Harris has long overstayed his welcome.

Mike Harris will leave behind a long list of infamous accomplishments. Many of these relate to the education system in Ontario. Harris has snipped away at the education for so long that is has become bare, ugly, and unable to adequately serve its people. Harris has cut funding levels to unacceptable amounts of money.

Students have suffered throughout the reign of Harris. They have had to go to school in increasingly crowded and rundown buildings as their former schools have closed down. This has meant more travel time and less one on one attention with teachers. Students have missed out on extra-curricular activities because the teachers have been too busy to run them. Students have been given undo stress as a year of their educations has been cut off and all that material (and more) has been crammed into the remaining years. Further stress has been created with the literacy tests. Schools just don’t have the same emphasis on grammar and spelling anymore and yet the literacy test is only implemented this year. Students cannot graduate from high school if they fail this, even though their lack of skills is not fully their fault.

Teachers have suffered just as much as students. They have seen their workloads increase substantially. They have been laid off and given pink slips just because the school boards can’t afford them. They have suffered so long that the public is becoming increasingly tired of them and is supporting them less and less. Teachers are tired these days and they have every right to be.

Hopefully the new premier will turn over a new leaf. History shows remarkable patterns in regards to the successors of disliked leaders. The new leaders are naturally aware of what the public hated about their last leader and try to avoid these things themselves. In fact, new leaders often make new policies specifically against what the old ones did. If this occurs with our new premier, perhaps, just perhaps, the education system in Ontario will be pulled out of the dark pit into which it has been sinking since Harris began his reign.

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