Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, March 22, 2012

TDSB budget: Unions call proposed cuts ‘bullying'

Calling it “short-sighted,” a “punch in the eye” and a case of “economic bullying,” union officials lambasted Toronto District School Board trustees Wednesday over a staff proposal to cut hundreds of jobs to help erase an $85 million deficit.

Outraged officials of teachers’ and support workers’ unions urged the board’s human resources committee to reject a recommendation to cut 430 education assistants, 134 school secretaries, 200 high school teachers and 39 elementary vice-principals, among others, to save $51 million.

But caught between what some called “heart-wrenching” cuts and the gut-wrenching threat of government takeover if they don’t balance their books, the committee chose not to take any stand on the cuts, tossing the political hot potato ahead one week to a special meeting of the whole board March 28 dedicated to the staffing issue.

For many, Wednesday became a chance to express anger at the idea of such sweeping cuts, although the total number of jobs that would be lost is about 200 because the board has just hired more than 400 early childhood educators and expects to need 215 more elementary teachers because of rising enrolment.

Still, staff recommends cutting almost all the education assistants, who cost the board some $16 million for which it does not get funding from Queen’s Park.


“From the bottom of my heart, I’m appalled at the extent of these cuts. I’m angry and frustrated,” fumed Katie McGovern, secretary of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4400, which represents board support workers.

The scope of the cuts show a “heart-wrenching lack of respect for people’s livelihoods,” she said, and “a punch in the eye to front-line staff. You all know better. This is economic bullying.”

Former education assistant Giselle Burton warned these are the front-line support staff who “know each child, who know who might wander away, which one might be a bully and which one might get bullied and which one could be left behind. Drastically slashing them is very short-sighted; what you save in today’s budget will cost you in future.”

Boards are required by the Ontario government to balance their budgets, although trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher suggested trustees explore the possibility that the province might be lenient on timelines.

Historically, boards risk being taken over by a provincial supervisor if they refuse to eliminate their deficit, as happened to the TDSB in 2002 for two years when it refused to deal with a $90 million shortfall.

Trustees have managed to balance the books in recent years by using reserve funds and putting off repairs, but the backlog in capital renewal has now hit $3 billion, an amount some trustees argue they can no longer ignore.

Original Article
Source: parentcentral
Author: Louise Brown

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