On the same day as they were settling their elementary teachers' contract, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (think Peterborough and area) were telling the public they will need fewer teachers this fall. According to the article, this is the second consecutive year this board has declared teaching positions redundant as a result of declining enrolment.
This is the harsh reality of the decline in the school-aged population. It's going to be a roller-coaster ride for those who received notices Friday, as they await for retirements to be finalized and positions to be posted. Any positions or hours available as everything works its way down will likely be part-time positions, eagerly snapped up by less-experienced teachers in combination with short-term occasional postings.
This is early in the process to make such an announcement. At other boards, they usually wait until the deadline for staff to notify the board of pending retirement to pass before they start handing out the pink slips. For example, in Algoma, the board anticipates retirements, leaves, promotions, etc. will continue to outstrip the decline in teaching positions so that no layoffs are necessary.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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2 comments:
But E.R. it's that time of year again when boards try to scare the public through the media with hype about laying off teachers...only to have in September hired them back because of retirements. Nothing's changed in this respect in years.
The difference this time is that contracts are still being settled and there's more hype than usual to lobby school communities to contact their trustees and insist on things like class caps for grs. 4-7 etc.etc.
What really bugs me is that faculties of education continue to churn out new teachers who are finding it difficult to find work.
I know at least a half dozen new teachers in different boards who can't find teaching jobs.
Why doesn't the Minister do something about that like encourage those teachers who are retired to stay retired?
This will slowly change-- the 92-day pension freebie on retirees returning for occasional placements had a tail end to it. Retirees can only return 92 days a year without pension penalty, for a limited number of years. With the bulk of retirements now past in both elementary and secondary, each coming school year will mean fewer retirees able to return to the classroom without taking a hit to their pension earnings.
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