Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

[windchime]

Last night I heard the question, "What's with Yertle the Turtle?" Always curious, I found the story on Global TV, CBC, the Huffington Post, and heard Tina Last on the radio this morning. Its not the Titanic,but now we have a titanic news story. The most comments I read were on the Mark Kelley, CBC site.
Let Dr. Seuss be read by all, I say, even on t-shirts. Let teachers put signs in their car windows because, sadly, this labour dispute became bitter long ago. Besides, elementary children likely don't notice what teachers are wearing unless its pink hair like Dawn Quast had temporarily. If high school kids say anything,it would be a point for discussion. They've already heard that sports and other teacher supported activities are over for now. The signs in the cars don't bother me: they just remind me there is a dispute.
I remember, perhaps incorrectly, that our district used to negotiate with our teachers. There was a working relationship. Our trustees supported our teachers. Is this current animosity what we want in our community? My answer is no. Bring on the mediators, fast.

[Sir Ryan of Last]

They have a mediator, his name is JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGOOOOOOOOOO!

Politics have no place in schools, and as such, political paraphernalia should be kept off school property too. Simple enough.

As for Yertle and his story, I felt that the message portrayed was one of manipulation and that it is alright for someone to manipulate those around him/her for personal gain. I hardly think that the message breeds good community minded individuals.

[guitargrrl]

Yertle gets dumped in the mud at the end of the story. How does that tell a little kid that it's alright to manipulate others for personal gain? I would say the message is more along the lines of "don't be a jerk and trample all over other people or you'll get dumped in the mud."

[jees]

....and Mr. Stigant is trying to stay afloat in all that mud he has put himself and the school district into.

[Sir Ryan of Last]

Hey, when the river runs red, its better to play in the mud instead of doing nothing at all.

Just sayin'.

[Sir Ryan of Last]

Via: Grand "Larson"y and the Twitterspace.

@htmf encouraging 'playing' with the rights of others, perhaps your mother should have read more Dr. Seuss to you as a child.

I was a big fan of The Butter Battle Book as a child. Nothing finer than watching people threaten to blow each other up to get you motivated to read! Hmmm, maybe its Dr. Seuss that breeds violence in society and not video games or movies. I wonder...

[DeadManWalking]

Sir Ryan of Last
Wow! That is your analysis of Yertle the Turtle. That it is Ok to manipulate your fellow man to get ahead. I don’t think that is what the story is about at all. I feel it is a great story to teach kids compassion for your fellow man and everyone has rights. I have to disagree with you, that politics have no place in a school. I hope my children’s teachers are giving them a wide range of political views to help them develop their critical thinking; they need to be able to make up their own minds. I do not want them hidden and sheltered from the real world, they deserve more. You made another comment that political paraphernalia should be kept off school property. The sign in question was in a teacher’s car. I was unaware that part of a Director of Instructions job was to go and look in people’s vehicles. This sounds too much like 1984. There is a Charter of Rights and this teacher has the right to express their feelings, as you have, even if it is a sign in a car. You also mentioned school property. School property is not private property. Our town has already received enough bad international PR over this, and I don’t believe your comments are helping.

[crazy Horse]

The teaching of politics belongs in school.
The practice of politics doesn't.

[jesus]

Perhaps our politicians should stop practising politics with our schools then. It is entirely the provincial governments fault the schools are in the mess they are in but it is the teachers fault for falling into their trap.

The government has left the teachers no option besides cutting extra curricular's hurting students and making the teachers look bad.The teachers are falling for it. I'm not sure what the right thing to do is but what's happening is not right. As for yertle the turtle well if you are making 100k+ and have the time to ban phrases from children's books then I think we've found a place to trim some fat and free up some funding for schools.

[crazy Horse]

Still kind of a goon tactic to cut extracurricular activities though. I am told by a teacher that is heavily involved in these activities that most of the teachers that volunteer for this want to keep doing it. They love it. It seems like the teachers that don't do any of this have decided to cut it out.

[DWhite]

Still kind of a goon tactic to cut extracurricular activities though. I am told by a teacher that is heavily involved in these activities that most of the teachers that volunteer for this want to keep doing it. They love it. It seems like the teachers that don't do any of this have decided to cut it out.

This is why a proper mediation/arbitration mechanism is necessary in this dispute. People volunteer because they enjoy doing it. Teachers love working with kids and working with them outside of the stressful classroom situation is incredibly satisfying for all concerned.

But teachers have no other recourse. In normal strike/lockouts, each side loses something. Employers aren't making money and might lose future business. Employees aren't getting paid. The public often isn't inconvenienced by the dispute. Not with public services. The government actually gains by having teachers off the job. Kids suffer; parents suffer; teachers suffer.

So in this current contract situation, the government didn't negotiate (net zero) nor did they make a serious attempt at fixing the illegal gutting of the contract in 2001. On top of that they asked for concessions involving seniority and professional autonomy.

After a three day walk out, the teachers were ordered back to work with the threat of the heaviest fines possible and the sham of a mediation process that includes as mediator a man who has written papers on behalf of the government proposing changes the government wants implemented and no mandate to discuss anything that costs money (salaries, class sizes).

All teachers can do at this point is react in a manner that draws attention to the dispute without harming the regular learning situation. Nobody likes what's happening, especially teachers.

I don't want to get into a big discussion defending the teacher stance. As far as I can tell, class size and addressing the gutting of the contract 11 years ago is a huge issue and one that the public will certainly support. As for a salary increase, who knows what somebody deserves, but according to this article, workers are getting wage increases of 2-3% this year and the private sector is doing better than the public sector.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/hu ... eases.aspx

Wage increases for unionized workers are expected to be a little higher in 2012 than previously projected in both the private and public sectors. Unionized employees in the private sector can expect wage increases averaging 2.4 per cent, while those in the public sector will see their wages rise by an average of 1.7 per cent.

And to make sure that I haven't drifted to far from the title of this thread: in this tense situation, teachers are being told what is acceptable for display in their car windows.

[DeadManWalking]

The elected school board has the power to trim fat, as a matter of fact they are meeting tonight on the budget.

[jesus]

The elected school board has the power to trim fat, as a matter of fact they are meeting tonight on the budget.

Hopefully they trim this guys fat ass.

[MrGonzo2006]

Perhaps our politicians should stop practising politics with our schools then. It is entirely the provincial governments fault the schools are in the mess they are in but it is the teachers fault for falling into their trap.

The government has left the teachers no option besides cutting extra curricular's hurting students and making the teachers look bad.The teachers are falling for it. I'm not sure what the right thing to do is but what's happening is not right. As for yertle the turtle well if you are making 100k+ and have the time to ban phrases from children's books then I think we've found a place to trim some fat and free up some funding for schools.

The School Board's wisdom in hiring , re-hiring, then re- re-hiring him as a consultant,etc., etc. is backed up by more than his 'YTT" rants:

- what about his 'anti-bumpersticker' and 'anti-dashboard' campaign to formally punish "some of" the vehicles on school property? But not 'all? ;

- what about his 'Protest T-Shirt teacher attire' campaign? Again, instructions to 'Administrators'(Principals & V-P's) were allegedly to formally reprimand those teachers 'allegedly' in violation of BCSEA regulations, (but only those in the designated BLACK T-Shirts)?

Where the hell are the PRDTU, BCTF and the holy Jim Sinclair groups on this?
Were these actions sanctioned by the:
- SD52 Board?;
- BCSEA?;
- Ministry of Education?;

1. Why haven't the unions grieved these actions to see if they were condoned, approved, initiatated by one of them?
2. By doing so, they would be able to flush out the origin of these actions and go after discriminatory, harassment, etc. during the government's 'official cool.ing off' period.
3. If he was on his own, then that would be more ammunition for voters and the teachers;
4. If he was following orders, that may become an harassment, intimidation/bullying("Yertle"), Labour Relations, or ultimately, a Human Rights Tribunal issue for inconsistent application.

Personally, I'd rather see my tax dollars spent on education instead of litigation.

SHAME ON ALL PARTIES, ESPECIALLY: THE 'HONOURABLE?' MR. ABBOTT & THE GOVERNMENT; NDP FOR GOING ALONG WITH THE STATUS QUO; BCSEA;BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR; BCTF; EACH DISTRICT UNION; and especially the sensationalizing media. GROW UP! DO YOUR JOBS! The teachers and administrators certainly do theirs! You owe it to the lowly taxpayers and Union-Dues-Paying members' to do yours, and to do it efficiently!

No, I am not, and have never been, and never will be, a teacher!

[DeadManWalking]

Were his actions sanctioned by the board?

They must have been. We have an elected school board that these people must report to. Our school board chair and the rest of the elected members must have been in agreement, or some kind of action or official statement would have taken place by now. Maybe they simply don’t care.

Has anyone heard of some kind statement from anyone on the elected board regarding this?

I doubt it.

This whole issue should revolve around the Charter of Rights where persons of power can not use it to censor or suppress opposing viewpoints including political. I guess YTT is very political.

I feel sorry for my children’s teachers. They must go to work, every day, wondering when they will receive next kick in the head.

I wish them the best of luck.