Commentary Attacking Keating and Teachers Mean-Spirited I felt compelled to write a response to the commentary “A Poster Child for Entitlement,” written by Howard Levitt, which appeared originally in the Financial Post, and then was reprinted in its entirety in the Telegraph Journal on Saturday, November 1. While editorials do not have the same rules as straight news reporting, there should be at least a minimal acceptable level of facts supporting contentions and a logical connection of ideas. Mr. Levitt’s comments fail miserably in this regard and it is very disappointing that the Telegraph Journal chose to reprint it. I would hope that commentaries are also published to expose the public to some differing views that may broaden the their understanding of an issue. However, this article actually does the opposite, leaving readers with many false impressions by quoting figures and misinformation from jurisdictions other than New Brunswick. The comments relating to Mr. Gary Keating are separate, but equally important. His story has been thoroughly reported this fall and appeared to have run its course through the news cycle. However, suddenly this commentary appears. The title says it all, Mr. Keating’s actions, according to Mr. Levitt, were a result of the “sense of entitlement” he naturally possessed because he was a teacher. Mr. Levitt is a lawyer and, based on his comments, clearly knows very little about the teaching profession. I doubt he knows Mr. Keating, a respected educator in the Saint John community for almost three decades, but professes to be an expert on the reasons for his decisions. It seems that Mr. Levitt wanted to write an article attacking the teaching profession and twisting Mr. Keating’s actions and motivations was the way in. Space constraints limit me from refuting each and every error in this article, but I will point out some of the most glaring. His use of the term “skyrocketing teaching salaries” is a good indicator that this is not a “scholarly” article. In New Brunswick, the annual wage increases for teachers over the past five years has been 1.3%. He follows this with the “biggest boondoggle is teachers’ pensions.” Earlier this year, teachers in this province rallied to have a fair review of their plan by Government. The fact is, Government provided the parameters they needed to achieve to be fiscally responsible, and teachers developed and accepted a plan that did this, including a significant increase in their contributions and a reduction of benefits. Teachers also apparently work “few hours” according to Mr. Levitt, although national studies determine that teachers consistently work an average of over 50 hours per week. A study released this fall by the Canadian Association of Principals indicated that school administrators, like Mr. Keating, have work weeks of around 55 hours. As for Mr. Levitt’s suggestion of a retirement age of 67 for all teachers, considering the challenges of delivering education services for all children in Canada’s most inclusive classrooms, this is not reasonable. In summation, I have to again question why this commentary was printed. It is mean-spirited. It attacks an individual, a profession, uses loaded vocabulary, makes bold inaccurate statements, and references “data” from other jurisdictions that does not apply to the New Brunswick reality. The author is a lawyer who clearly knows and understands nothing about teaching, schools and students, and in particular, the New Brunswick education system. However, since I am a teacher and know nothing about being a lawyer, I will not do as Mr. Levitt did, and assume that his entire profession is as flawed as his commentary! Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t make a couple of comments about our New Brunswick education system. Teachers definitely face challenges. Over the past several years, the education system has been subject to numerous separate initiatives that seem to have been adopted with little consideration of their combined impact. This has resulted in a system that is stretched beyond capacity. When there are too many priorities, there are effectively none. I am pleased to hear the current government commit to developing a ten-year comprehensive plan for education. New Brunswick teachers are looking forward to participating in the development of this plan. It is something that we have pushed for. To ensure a quality education system for all students in New Brunswick, we, as a province, need to do more than pay lip service to the challenges we face. I have heard it said many times by politicians… “Children are our future”. I say… “Invest fully in that future.” Peter Fullerton President New Brunswick Teachers’ Association
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 16:32:19 +0000