Ugh, I am feeling so ranty today. Must be the PMS. But anyway, VOCM's question of the day goes like this; "Do you support putting close to two billion dollars, most of it Atlantic Accord money, into the teachers' pension plan?"

For those of you unknowing and curious, allow me to explain. Anyone who has been living in Canada for the past year or so, there is a chance that they knew about the feud between Danny Williams (current premier of NL) and Paul Martin (then prime minister of Canada) about the Atlantic Accord. When Danny had to put up a fight and (imo, childishly) took down the Canadian flag in protest when Martin wouldn't had it over so easily... I'm sure you all remember that, right? In the end, Danny got the Atlantic Accord money for us - 2 billion dollars. Now that money is sitting in the bank. (Instead of using it to pay off debt - which we have aplenty - it's just sitting there doing nothing.) But now he has finally decided to do something with it...

Which is putting it into the teachers' pension plan. So basically this is paying the bills, just read on...

But allow me to explain some more. Teachers in this province all pay into their pension. I'm not sure how long ago, but in a previous leadership that money was used wrongly. But they've got to give them something to pay them back with right? But they spent it on something else. Oopsie.

So now there's a big ol' row between us common folk about how the money should be spent. This is where the title of this post comes in. Now, not everyone is like how you see on VOCM... some of us are just really stupid. Doing what the government wants us to do - going at each other like cats and dogs. I hate it when people comment on stuff they aren't even knowledgable about - it makes me want to hit something. Seriously.

Some - I mean alot - of people posting on VOCM are ignorant, imo , beyond belief. Saying that teachers "don't have a hard job, hardly any stress on them, they get SO many holidays, omg!" That is complete and utter BULL what some are saying. I mean, get an 'effing clue! Gawd! Try being a teacher for just one day! I'm not a teacher myself... but my dad is one... good enough? And I go to the very school where he teaches... I see what happens daily there, so I know what he deals with. Fights in the lunchroom, halls, and corridors. Kids not listening. Disrespecting the teacher. Cussing out the teacher. F*cking off 'cause they just don't care. And then when the kid messes up their own loser parents come in and blame it on the teacher. No one has a clue about what my dad has to go through, and that's just with the kids. Not to mention the work load, setting up labs, correcting tests, quizzes, and assignments, making up tests and assignments, and much more.

Ok, so maybe you don't believe what I'm saying - I don't care, it's a free country, believe whatever you want to believe. But the fact of the matter is, the money has to come from somewhere to pay for the pension, and we just *happen* to have quite a bit sitting in the bank, doing nothing but collecting interest. The money was taken from them. It's time they get it back.

-

Here is an excerpt my mom wrote on there once...

However, the FACTS that I refer to are the ones you listed: Holiday duration, sick days, skating! All a part of the system one would think. Some teacher's go an entire career & hardly use a sick day! I know some! A Science Teacher takes students on Field trips as a learning experience. Not a holiday. My comments were in response to your statement that you did not know (Not sure). Teacher teaching days have increased significantly over the years. I went to school as did you & I currently have one child in the school system. I think this year school is out the 23rd of June. Many years ago when I was in school, it was over much earlier. Teachers are in school longer because there was a need for a longer school year. There is 1 week off at Easter; not two; in our school. 9 days off at Christmas this year (13 in total, including weekends;which don't count). Which school system are you basing your information on? Most high school teachers do not take students skating etc... This is mainly in the primary & elementary grades. It goes hand in hand-gives the children a break from the stuffy classroom. Exercise, the chance to learn to skate etc... Most Parents pay for bussing of these events. Government doesn't allow for these extras. The Teachers are not off some where else, having a break. Most years there are very few snow days. Everyone else gets them as well, not only school closures! Teachers, in my experience, will stay in after school to help students if they need extra help. Teachers do many other details that many of the general public know very little about. Simply because it is not spoken about. Extra curricular activities, lunch time supervision, breaking up fights, chaperoning school dances & school fundraisers! How about all the hours of school work done at home, after the students go home? A Teacher's job don't end there. Science Teachers have to set up Labs for the next day etc... High school teachers spend countless hours/holidays, correcting work, doing up reports etc... the list is endless! Too bad the media is not doing it's job to inform the mis-informed public of all the facts. Teachers did not ask that all the Accord $ be put back into the pension fund. It will have to be paid back at some point. They only asked that the pension fund be addressed; reasonable one would think. I am alarmed to hear that you find Teacher Stress funny! Do you know any Teachers personally? Most jobs have some level of stress, as do life in general. Stress is not a laughing matter. It also comes in many different forms. The government is making a mokery of the Teachers & are enjoying this. Teachers are not the enemy!

-

Another fact is that all this bickering on VOCM is stupid. The population doesn't have a chance to vote on this; it's up to the government and the government alone.

Maybe once people get over their jealousies they can let stuff like this go.

*(Sorry if I sounded a bit whiney on here. But I needed to let this out.)