READERS WRITE

A letter to Doug Ford Re: Education

You know Doug, I was a huge supporter of your brother and you as well until recently. I understand the need for cutbacks because of the ugly situation this province was left in by the Wynne government. I have defended you and your cutbacks at social gatherings but I cannot do that any more with this education problem.

I feel you fail to realize and have lost touch with how important our teachers are. It is their job to educate and teach our future generations that will eventually have your job when they become adults. The government has taken the power to teach away from them already and now you are taking away their drive to teach by showing them just how little they mean to your government. In my humble opinion the teachers are one of this country’s most valuable assets. It is time to stop the pettiness and solve this situation immediately like a decent government would do. Your brother saw the importance in people. I sincerely hope you can as well.

I am extremely frustrated with this province and this country. I remember a government and both parties working together to create our health care system way back and now you are all just acting like spoiled children who can’t even sit in the house without arguing and attacking each other. It’s time to grow up.

Chad Donovan, Hamilton

My husband will keep fighting

My husband is a teacher. When he joined the provincewide rotating strike this week, it was his third day of lost wages. Even with strike pay, he has already lost more than the 1 per cent of salary that Ford and Lecce claim is all he is fighting for. In fact, he’s fighting for the future of education in Ontario. It isn’t about compensation, it’s about the kids. My husband will keep fighting for education even as his personal financial losses mount, because it matters.

Re: Daina Di Veto, Lynden

Teachers are warriors

Re: Teachers victims of patriarchal attitudes (Feb. 4)

Thank you, Margaret Shkimba! She hit the nail on the head, in her eloquent, insightful commentary. Negative attitudes about teachers that continue to persist are, ultimately, the result of many decades of subtle, sexist attitudes. Yes, there are and have always been, male teachers, but they have been on the receiving end of the same disheartening bias as female teachers. I think that certain egotists can’t stand anyone (of any gender) who works in helping professions, because those egotists believe that the desire to dedicate your life to serving your society indicates you are a weakling.

Why? Because the gender that has most consistently been dedicated to helping others, in personal and professional life, is female. So, by extension, anyone who teaches is undervalued and disrespected by the kinds of people who hold that machismo is the most admirable human quality. The irony is that teachers are warriors, fighting every single day for children and hoping to build a better society. It disgusts me that they are scapegoated by the very government that benefits from their courage and selflessness.

Anne Walker, Hamilton

Teachers aren’t victims of patriarchy

I share Margaret Shkimba’s view that teachers are valuable and should be properly compensated, but almost everything else in her recent column was factually incorrect.

Women do indeed dominate education: 60 per cent of high school teachers and 84 per cent of elementary school teachers are women. But they don’t suffer from a “gender pay gap” as Shkimba claims. The average salary for teachers was pegged at about $91,000 by the Ministry of Education and about $87,000 by the teachers’ union (OSSTF). Either way, they outperform the average Canadian whose salary Statistics Canada put at $55,806.00.

Second, where is the evidence that “the (teaching) workforce is predominately female and undervalued for simply that reason alone” as Shkimba claims?

Differences in pay may not be, as Shkimba states, because, “A patriarchal society refuses to recognize that the work women do is just as valuable than (sic) the work done by men.” The issue is not gender, but rather the kind of work being done, education, demand and other factors. For example, in nursing, an occupation 92 per cent female, the average salary is $76,000 with many nurses making over $100,000. In contrast, truck drivers, a 97 per cent male profession, earned an average of $44,850 a year. I support teachers, but they are not victims of a patriarchal pay gap.

Paul Benedetti, Hamilton

Donald Trump’s geography Re: Trump presidency

Donald J. Trump congratulated the state of Kansas for their team winning the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for him, the Kansas City Chiefs are based in the state of Missouri.

Too bad his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, didn’t pull out a map of the United States for him. Pompeo tried to embarrass a reporter by making her point out Ukraine on a map, not realizing she was a geographical scholar. The reporter came through with flying colours. I wonder how Trump would have made out. It seems like education trumps both bullying and just plain stupidity.

Andy Price, Ancaster

Heartbroken by court decision

Re: Trans Mountain pipeline wins in court (Feb. 5)

We are heartbroken by the court decision to let the Trans Mountain pipeline go ahead, against Indigenous protests. This triples the bitumen output and is a terrible blow for the climate crisis. We hope the Indigenous peoples can mount an appeal. Canada should not increase fossil fuel projects.

Gail and Bill Lorimer, Hamilton