Massive Protests During Harris Era

Had little to do with health or education but more about union leaders maintaining power.........

Storming education's barriers

By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN

A conservative think-tank has released a thoughtful but flawed report produced by three veteran Manitoba educators that makes a good point as far as it goes.

High school teacher Michael Zwaagstra and education professors Rodney Clifton and John Long argue teacher unions have too much power in setting policies that often work against the public interest.

"Unions have opposed many attempts to increase transparency and accountability in Canada's school systems," states the Atlantic Institute study, Getting the Fox out of the Schoolhouse: How the Public Can Take Back Public Education.

"Specifically, the unions have been strong opponents of standardized testing, increased parental choice in schooling and any form of performance-based pay for teachers", the authors write.

Trailing behind their American counterparts who, "have replaced their traditional opposition" to such measures with "constructive criticism and reasonable proposals" the educators say, Canadian unions remain trapped in the past.