Imagine that.
Teachers' union boss a big fan of McGuinty
The outgoing president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) is leaving her job with good marks for the province's Liberal government.
Despite lingering concerns about "inadequate" base funding for school boards, Rhonda Kimberley-Young told The Recorder and Times "we've seen education as a whole make gains" under the government.
She attributed much of that to the respect she said Premier Dalton McGuinty and his education minister have shown educators.
"That's very much been a real change in attitude from the (Progressive Conservative) government we had before that didn't necessarily listen to our concerns, let alone take them seriously," said Kimberley-Young.
Few would be surprised to hear Kimberley-Young speak well of the current government, given the strife of the Harris/Eves years.
But critics have accused the McGuinty government of simply buying labour peace with teachers' unions by caving in at the negotiating table.
Indeed teachers won increased wages and more preparation time in contracts that were essentially negotiated with Queen's Park.
Boards had little choice but to sign on and many, including both the local public and Catholic ones, have since complained the contracts have compounded their financial struggles.
"Certainly we have no trouble defending the fact that some working conditions are a little better because they are the learning conditions of students," explained Kimberley-Young.
Asked her opinion of the present-day Progressive Conservatives under Leader John Tory, Kimberley-Young hardly sounded like the OSSTF will endorse them in this October's provincial election.
"We want a strong publicly funded system that's open and accessible to all students. We don't want to see the system be segregated," said Kimberley-Young. Tories are bringing to the table are the same things the Tories brought to government when they served in Ontario," she said.
OSSTF is particularly concerned, she said, that the party continues to promote a tax credit for parents whose children attend private or independent religious schools.
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