Sometimes I get to the point of frustration, that I just become silent. 

This is not one of those times.

A year ago, I posted on social media about how frustrated I was that the opposition party in Ontario was running on a platform of laying off 100,000 public sector workers which would, of course, include education workers.

Two years ago, I was discussing the tough negotiations that were happening with the provincial government, including the threats of cutbacks to crucial benefits, like sick days (which in the field of special education frequently means “injury recovery days”).

This translates in to two long years of fighting. Fighting for my rights, the rights of people I work with, the rights of students I support in the school system.

Yes, my peers and I knew what our working conditions were when we signed on with our respective school boards. We knew that we would be called on to do hard work and that the pay was not commiserate with our value to the system, our students or their families. We hoped that when feasible, the government would step up and recognize that value.

Over the past two years, we have been beaten down in the media, vilified for wanting to be recognized and compensated in the only way our society seems comfortable acknowledging value: monetarily.

Over the past two years, I have seen a shift, a dangerous shift, towards the edge of disaster. I have seen people become tired of being made out to be greedy and selfish. People who continue to work hard to deliver amazing programs to students, but who question why?

Why do I continue to do this work – especially when this honorable profession is vilified by the media and is now disdained by segments of the public? Why do I continue to do this work when my own government, the keeper of civil society, no longer feels that funding education is more important than funding votes?

Many capable and enthusiastic young people have turned away from a career in education because of these same circumstances.

What is happening to education in Ontario? Education is being eroded to pay for the government’s future, plain and simple.

We cannot be silent in our frustration – we must speak out at every opportunity. We, educators and the public, must work to save the future of our province by saving education and the hard-working, dedicated educators of our province’s future citizens.

“…it only takes one voice, at the right pitch, to start an avalanche.” (Dianna Hardy)

The recent reaction by some parents to the introduction of the new Health and Physical Education Curriculum is distressing, and oftentimes infuriating. I am not opposed to people making choices about what is best for their child; I’ve done it myself.

I believe in public education strongly and I believe in the right to advocate for your child. I do not believe they should be mutually exclusive.

Sending around flyers stating that teachers will be teaching children how to masturbate, engage in anal sex and facilitate them looking at pornography is not only categorically untrue and insulting to the professionals who teach your children, it is not advocacy. That is lying and therefore teaching your children that you need to spread lies when your argument is weak.

Stopping people at a bus stop and discouraging them from sending their child to school to protest something on your behalf is not advocating for your child. This tells your child that you need to harass and bully when you disagree with a system change.

When you carry signs that say “What’s next? Safe animal sex?” you are not advocating for your child. You are spreading hate. You are teaching your children that exaggerating and perpetuating stereotypes is acceptable when you disagree with the government.

The amount of misinformation being sent around the internet, mailboxes and school parking lots is astounding.

I ask parents to read the curriculum. Every word. Then decide if it goes against YOUR beliefs. If the knowledge is not beneficial to your child, who will be out in the world with the internet and cell phones and parties and peer pressure without you, then you are well within your rights to withdraw your children from the public system. I do not think this will protect them. Instead, the more caring and dedicated people who are in our children’s lives the better. People committed to helping them understand and navigate the challenges of social and personal interactions, well, that’s a good thing.

Parents are the head of households, but school is the place where other ways of thinking are learned and shared and discussed. No one is trying to change your family values; the point is to ensure that the values of personal safety and inclusion and diversity are understood and respected. There is a universality to that. Just as you expect people to respect your way of life and beliefs, even if it is different from their own, this curriculum is intended to help children respect other ways of being. It is filled with ways to keep them safe from unwanted attention and harm.

Don’t insult the intelligence of educators, or your children. No one is trying to corrupt children. This new curriculum has more in common with the sex education they have been receiving since 1998 than people seem to appreciate. Yes, children are learning certain aspects at a younger age; this reflects what is happening in society as a whole.

If you, as an individual, have an issue, work with your school. Be a partner in the learning process. Be a true advocate.