Houston’s lessons in uncertainty
Government wants to appear to be working with NSTU while reducing qualifications
Afew weeks ago, the Nova Scotia government issued a funding announcement for school construction as part of its fiscal plan: $208.5 million, in fact.
The announcement was pushed out via the government’s social media platforms, accompanied by an image of a smiling Tim Houston, MLA Brad Johns and a seemingly quite-pleased-to-hear-about-the-funding-announcement teacher.
Yup, that’s me in the picture, happy as all get out.
For some context, this particular photo was snapped back in November when the premier was touring my school under the auspices of checking out buildings operating at or above capacity.
I ran into Johns in the hallway. I’ve known him politically for many years as, before he was an MLA, Johns was a municipal councillor for my school’s district.
We were chatting about my school’s upcoming production of Annie (tickets $14, on sale soon) when the premier (who I’ve met twice) emerged from a classroom and, somewhat to my surprise, made a point of coming over and greeting me exceptionally warmly. He seemed genuinely happy to see me. There was a quick joke at Johns’s expense about wanting free tickets to the show and a brief conversation about overcrowding at our school, then I went about my day.
Lo and behold, four months later, there’s my picture being used to show how happy teachers are with the Houston government.
Nice.
When it comes to their relationship with teachers, this has been the image that the government has wanted to promote. There has been a tremendous amount of emphasis on the part of Houston and Education Minister Becky Druhan that they are genuinely interested in rebuilding some of the relational bridges burned during Stephen Mcneil’s “Reign of Error.”
Druhan has been touring educational institutions “listening to teachers” and seeming to be fully engaged in the process of addressing their concerns. The government has directed the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to engage in a review of the provincial code of conduct, and there has been talk of a new committee to address school violence though it should be noted that a Tory motion has passed at public accounts to exclude the NSTU from testifying regarding the auditor general’s report on the topic.
However, even the most optimistic of Nova Scotians might want to reevaluate that impression based on the fact the Nova Scotia Teachers Union has called for a strike vote on April 11.
Through 10 months of negotiations, the government bargaining team has seemingly been unwilling to address any of the union’s concerns. According to NSTU president Ryan Lutes, “We have many issues in our public schools and they’re not willing or don’t seem to be willing to address any of them.”
To emphasize the severity of the issues, Lutes pointed to a recent survey that showed 84 per cent of Nova Scotia teachers have considered leaving the profession in the last five years.
Coupled with those alarming numbers is the premier’s admission recently that the province is having a difficult time recruiting new teachers to replenish the ranks. At his party’s most recent annual meeting, Houston proposed that the solution was to lower the qualifications for those seeking a B.ED. That plan would require agreement from the NSTU, which had not been consulted before the announcement.
So let’s review. The government wants to appear to be working hand in hand with the NSTU in dealing with staffing shortages by addressing teacher issues, but at the same time wants to devalue the profession by reducing qualifications and is forcing teachers into a strike position rather than meaningfully addressing issues.
I’m not quite sure how those two strategies can occupy the same space at the same time.
I have absolutely no doubt the teachers of this province will overwhelmingly hand their bargaining team a strike mandate. Many lessons were learned by rank and file teachers during the Mcneil era, and when the Liberals played dirty it left a mark. As one teacher put it to me, “Back then I was just angry. Now, I’m demoralized and angry.” Many feel that, for the sake of themselves, their schools and their students, they have no choice but to force the government’s hand. The current situation is simply unsustainable.
The real question is what happens after that.
The two sides are working with a conciliator, and there are several meetings scheduled before the allowable date for any potential job action. However, it was the NSTU that requested the conciliator, and it is the NSTU that has called for a strike vote. Even a casual observer can conclude that the offer on the table is not addressing teacher concerns and is unlikely, in its present form, to prevent job action.
That means the ball is squarely in the government’s court.
There is one final angle that bears mention.
An election is being held to determine the next NSTU provincial president, and I am one of several teachers, passionate and capable unionists all, running for the position.
Although I can’t imagine the premier had much to do with selecting a particular publicity photo, I also don’t doubt that it was chosen intentionally. It was only days after I announced my candidacy that my image suddenly appeared in a government propaganda piece.
I take that a tad personally. And should I win, the next time he lays eyes on me the premier will undoubtedly be much less happy to see me coming.