Last week, I stopped over at my parents' house in Waterloo for dinner. Given that it was the day before the possible strike by elementary teachers in Ontario, the conversation naturally shifted to that subject matter.My parents are both former Catholic Elementary teachers (my mom left to be a "stay at home mom" after having me), and I found their perspective interesting. Without getting into the political aspect of things, the most interesting part of the conversation that I had was when we started discussing extracurriculars.
You see, my dad began his teaching career in Sault Ste. Marie in the 1960s. As a grade 7 & 8 teacher, one of the few (two?) males on staff, and with his athletic background, he was basically "voluntold" to help coach the school's athletic teams ---- boys' basketball, volleyball, hockey, and baseball, and girls' ringette.
Two fun facts: the first, his school didn't have a gym. They practiced outside (yes, outside!) in the Sault Ste. Marie winter for basketball and volleyball (hockey was obviously a little easier given that they could put in an outdoor rink --- which my dad maintained on a daily basis). Pretty neat that they were able to win a few city championships despite the lack of amenities!
Secondly, he was paid to coach. Now, back in those days, Catholic school teachers made significantly less than their public counterparts (or so I'm told --- well before my time!). Anyways, he received $50 per team that he coached, which would work out to approximately $350 to $400 in today's dollars.
Anyways, with the current extracurricular dilemma in Ontario's public schools, it certainly got me thinking.
Now, full disclosure --- (1) I enjoy following (and writing about, if you've noticed) high school basketball, so I certainly enjoy when extracurriculars are running. (2) Christa is a high school teacher in Peel, so I could stand to gain financially if something like this were put in place, given her involvement in her school.
Nonetheless, the "how" and "why" of the implementation of something like this was difficult to put my finger on, until reading Martin Regg Cohn's column from last week's Star. To directly quote from the article:
"Decades ago, before teachers were unionized ... coaching and clubs were quaintly deemed an optional extra — and hence made voluntary. Today, there is a pedagogical consensus that extracurricular activities are a core component of the school day, so why not change teachers’ pay scales to reflect that reality — for example by paying a core salary for teaching classes until 3:30 p.m., and then offering incentive pay or bonuses for those who take on extracurricular activities?"
Obviously, there would be many questions to be answered before something like this would be put in place, and the timeframe is certainly not in the immediate near future (i.e. next contracts to be negotiated in 2014).
Also, in no way am I suggesting that teachers don't coach for "the love of the game", because the overwhelming majority do. I could even see a scholarship fund (or charity) being set up for teachers to "donate back" such a payment if they felt so inclined.
What I am saying is that extracurriculars were a valuable part of my high school experience. Can we put a put a dollar figure on that value? That's not for me to say, but it may be something for the "powers that be" to consider.
