Beyond the pickets . . .

Teachers strike: week one. After what seemed like an eternal stay in purgatory, Ontario has finally been lowered into the fiery inferno of an illegal walkout by public school teachers.

In brief, I'm disgusted with both "sides" of this issue, and I'm offended that we as a society have allowed "sides" and "education of children" to be part of the same dialogue!

Make no mistake, the current state of unrest has very little to with education, and a lot more to do with power. The teacher unions, which have more money in their pension funds than the GNP of most Third World countries combined, have made it clear that won't support any plan that takes money from their coffers. The government, on the other hand, is very good at cutting but not so good at explaining their plans to improve the system (too bad the EIC, as discussed in this column last month, wasn't given the power to do anything). Meanwhile, the rest of us are carrying on with our lives as the missiles criss-cross above our heads. Forget the government, and forget the union, it's what is happening in those trenches at the grassroots right now that is important.

People simply aren't going to accept that their children are mere pawns in some corporate game. Discontent has been building quietly over that past 30 years, and it is now bubbling to the surface. This grassroots anger is turning to action, and may very well signal the beginning of the end of the public school system as we know it, not only in Ontario, but elsewhere.

Parents and communities are starting to realize that the best developers of educational planning are not union kingpins or bureaucrats in Toronto (not much of a choice is it?). The answer lies closer to home. While private schooling has been growing steadily as on option for those with the financial resources necessary, look for public-private school lines to blur, as parents and others demand greater control at the local level. Ordinary parents and citizens are starting to look at the billions and billions of dollars, the lack of accountability, and the continued bickering between the powers that be and are now asking a simple question: couldn't I do better?

I have always been a strong supporter of public schooling. In fact, in the past I often wondered if public funds should be completely withdrawn from private educational institutions. I'm now having much different thoughts...like a lot of Canadians it seems I was born with a "bigger is better" attitude towards institutional involvement in my community. It has taken some time, and I'm not sure where this is all heading, but I think I'm almost ready to admit that maybe big brother/sister doesn't know best after all.

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