The past few weeks have been daunting. With the release of the provincial budget, the narrative around our current government has absolutely taken off to a point that many of us are doing our best to simply try to keep up. These are undeniably hard times, times of worry and concern for public education, for our own well being, for the quality of education that our students will get and for our profession. Teachers are being asked to do more with less (again) and are having their integrity questioned at what seems to be almost every pass. It is clear that our government does not trust us, has little respect for us and does not want to take the time to entertain any kind of formal talks with us before hacking away at the soul of our profession, our future as civil servants in Alberta, and our work as teachers. This is completely unacceptable.
So, what can we do about it? To answer this question, I am going to begin with what we cannot do. We cannot pretend that this isn’t happening, that this is not real or that the impacts of this attack on public education (if successful) are not going to severely damage our schools, jobs, school boards and students for years and years to come. We cannot think that this will be easily repaired if the damage is allowed to happen. We cannot trust this government to do good by teachers “just because” we matter. None of this will lead to great change, support for our profession or the backing down of this apparently punitive government. This said, we also cannot get our personal selves to a point of no return where our mental health is so damaged beyond repair that we no longer have anything to offer to our loved ones and students. We cannot spend each waking moment in a state of “fight” since, we all know that this is not healthy. Most of all, we cannot further sacrifice our own well being fighting a fight that will undeniably be a very long haul.
With this, let’s focus on what we can do – some of which you have heard many times over:
- Stay informed about the issues, in the loop with the correct information, and keep the message of advocacy always at the tip of your tongue. Without the pressure that teachers are bringing, the public will not know or understand the impact of this government’s attack on us.
- Update your ATA Account to ensure that you are receiving all of the pertinent information. Remember to use your personal e-mail address and not your school e-mail address. You can visit this link for more information on how to get an account and / or update it.
- Write the letter to your MLA. If you no longer have a copy of the template, you can find one here on the ATA Website behind the fire wall.
- Fill in the petition to the government asking them to reconsider their punitive measure of forcing ATRF to hand over our pension funds by visiting https://www.handsoffmypension.ca/
- Complete the Choice
in Educations survey that the federal government has put forward. You can
access this survey here:
- Be careful with this survey. It is biased and the questions are leading.
- Join the Local’s Political Engagement Team at the Pizza, Pints and Politics talk on November 27th at Barnett House. This event is closed to EC Teachers only and space is limited. RSVP to lorna.baxandall@ecteachers.ca. The conversation will take place from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.
- Keep being one of the best teachers in the world. Bring your best to your classroom, as you already do, and leave the politics for the adults. Our classrooms need to be safe spaces for our students and should not be politicized.
- Follow the Local on social media @ectlocal54 and @ectLocal54President to stay in the loop.
- When the noise of all of this is getting to be too much and your energy level for advocacy is deteriorating, stop. Take time for yourself.
In closing, remember that as teachers, our profession has been here before and we persevered, our profession was honored in the end. This came at the cost of a huge battle of speaking up and out. Together, we can make BIG change happen and we can force the public to hear us. Never underestimate the power of a collective voice.
You are all appreciated, valued and seen. Together, we will arrive at the place where this has passed and we are all “all right”. Until then, let’s focus on this: “Empowered teachers are stronger together.”
Take care of yourselves,
Sandra