Carnie's Comments

 

To be honest, as a taxpaying citizen, I grew tired long ago of all the belly aching from the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation every time a contract comes up for renewal. I was and still am of the opinion that our teachers have it pretty good.

However, in this case, I agree with the teachers' union that we need to address the issues of classroom size, complexity and the struggles our teachers are having these days with behavioral issues.

I've talked to a number of teachers who tell me the struggles are real. They deal with dysfunctional children who come to school with a complete lack of respect for fellow students and their teachers. These are children who require extra attention and that isn't fair to the other kids who go to school with good attitudes and desire to learn.

Our provincial government has committed to a $3.6 million pilot project with a focus on assisting staff in managing behavioural incidents with a goal of providing "long-term solutions to evaluate targeted intervention methods and increase teacher capacity to manage complex classrooms".

Our teachers want more and they want it now and, you know what? I think we need to deliver.