Dear editor,
If you think that I’ve got an axe to grind in the school labour dispute because I’ve got kids in school, you’re right.
I’ve also got an axe to grind because I keep hearing about kids dropping out because they can’t get the basic courses needed to
graduate in our high schools. I have an axe to grind because my kids need protection from the risk of violence and bullying and the last thing they need is to see supports at school pulled out from under them.
I have an axe to grind because I know that the last thing that the kids who are struggling now need is bigger classes and courses taught by teachers hundreds of kms away. The teachers I know work with these kids, all day, every day, and they tell me how much worse it has become for them since the Ford government took over and I know how much worse it will get if the government gets its way.
I’m upset for my kids and all the kids who need their teachers in their classrooms full-time. And I’m mad that the government wants people to think that teachers from every teachers’ union in the province — for the first time in history — are out walking in the snow and ice instead of being in their nice, warm classrooms just for money. These politicians don’t want to bargain and they don’t act as if they care about public education. All they want are political points, on the backs of students, parents and education workers across Ontario.
So if you think I’ve got an axe to grind because I’ve got kids who ought to be in school full-time and who need public schools that help all the kids in our community, you’re right.
Brian Dougherty
Arnprior
photos skimel
What he said.