WhatFinger


Public treasury looting by the unions will continue lest taxpayers demand better, Manitoba schools teaching fewer students than 40 years ago for a cost that's doubled in 14 years

The Education Racket in Manitoba



Winnipeg, Manitoba--What day would be complete in Manitoba without hearing about another case of government foisting sub-par and over-priced services on citizens? The latest is the 9.32% pay increase the thread-bare teachers and their unions negotiated recently in the bustling metropolis of Flin Flon Manitoba, where teachers are eligible, according to their collective bargaining agreement, for salaries up to $102,000 annually. And tragically, this little school division is indicative of a Canada-wide public education system that is bleeding taxpayers dry while short-changing students.
Sadly this recent astronomical pay increase that Flin Flon teachers received is in-keeping with historic pay raises. In 2010 the school division awarded their overworked teacher's union with a similar whopping increase of 7.5%, thus casting the die for 2014's jackpot windfall. Since many readers are likely products of the Canadian public school system and aren't expected to know how to add, we've calculated for them; the total increase to teacher salaries in Flin Flon Manitoba during the period of 2010 to 2018 is an astonishing 16.82%. The vast majority of readers have never likely even heard of Flin Flon but its obscurity certainly doesn't deter it from spending like a major metropolis. The sleepy city of 5,592 is about 760 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg and sits on the boarder of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. According to the city's 2012's annual financial report --which is the latest available at the time of writing - the municipality is awash in long-term debt, totaling over $10.8M as of December 31, 2012. One can safely bet the farm this figure has ballooned since then. The municipality slurped up over $14.3M in various taxes, license and permit fees and other government grants to fund its operations in 2012. Even more frightening is that the Municipal Employees' Pension Plan (MEPP) - which the majority of Flin Flon city workers are members of - has a staggering unfunded liability of $161.3M. Given Flin Flon's current financial situation one could argue the teachers are overpaid. However, upon review of other city employee salaries --for example a custodian earning $51K, an RCMP clerk earning $54K, a municipal administrator earning $102K and a director of works hauling in over $121K annually - perhaps in the world of the Flin Flon politburo, teachers come relatively cheap. And as bad as the financial outlook for Flin Flon is, its financial report does not account for its money pit school division.

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We tried to access the Flin Flon School Division's website several times over several days but were unable to. For a division that costs over $12.7M to run in fiscal 2012/2013 one would assume they could afford a sober webmaster. Ever intrepid we managed to uncover an obscure but consolidated provincial government document from 2008 which includes financial information pertaining to all school divisions province-wide. Normally teacher and administrator salaries are more difficult to uncover than is the origin of the universe but our document reveals some interesting facts on page 687. For example, in 2007, the Flin Flon School Division reported 70 employees earning over $50K a year (their version of a civil servant sunshine list). On this tax-suckled list many teachers are earning more than $70K yearly with principals earning between $70K - $90K and superintendant salaries topping $94K - $118K. These are just salaries with benefits and taxpayer pension contributions excluded. Run-away unions and lavish pay increases likely mean Flin Flon's school division's current sunshine list has doubled in size since 2007, with salaries likely approaching $90K for some teachers and $125K or higher for administrators. By the way, the Flin Flon division runs only four schools, two elementary and two high schools and in 2012 enrolled just 1,036 students for an unsustainable per pupil annual cost of $12,769. And the pupil/teacher ratio of 16 students per teacher dispels the myth that class sizes are onerously large. Not a bad gig if you can get it! According to Statistics Canada the median total income for a family with two adult wage-earners in Manitoba in 2011 was $68,710 before tax. Compared with a similar two adult household if both are teachers in Flin Flon, household income would be, depending on their years of services, anywhere between $100K to over $200K. And if the lavish pensions and benefits were included--which private sector workers can only dream of --the income gap becomes obscene. Our research uncovered a number of articles which confirm that ballooning teacher salaries are having no improving affect on student performance. Indeed the articles show how student rankings have declined over the years. In addition to our examples, many more are readily available on-line: (CBC, Globe and Mail, Winnipeg Free Press) The NDP in Manitoba has come up with a novel way to do away with the abysmal results their school system is delivering. Sadly, rather than improving the system the party has simply done away with standardized testing. No test scores, no problem, right? And as full day nursery and kindergarten classes are being introduced to Manitoba, residents of Winnipeg --already slammed with three property tax increases in as many years --can expect to be paying for even more rock star-salaried teachers and staff. Is there no end to the magnificent services the government offers us? In their book Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis (University of Toronto Press, 2007), authors James E. Cote and Anton L Allahar present a chilling account of the current state of Canadian universities. The book clearly details how unprepared children are to enter university in spite of receiving 14 years of public schooling prior to enrollment. The authors argue, "...as more and more students with inflated grades, but lower levels of academic interest and ability, have entered Canadian universities year after year, many professors have given in by watering down their courses and inflating grades." Not only that, but universities have responded to freshman classes without competent skills in reading, writing, or mathematics, by establishing "all manner of remedial courses, writing-skills workshops, calls for mentors and private tutors, and assorted learning support centres." "This spoon-feeding approach to education has transformed university from an intellectual enterprise into an extension of high school. " Each year the Province of Manitoba publishes its so-called FRAME reports (Financial Reporting and Accounting in Manitoba Education). According to the report, enrollment in the Manitoba public schools system has been dropping steadily since 1970, falling dramatically from a high of nearly 250,000 in the early 1970s to just over 180,000 in 2012. Yet, inexplicably, public funding has nearly doubled since 1999, skyrocketing from just over $1.2B to an astonishing $2B in 2012. In other words, Manitoba schools are teaching far fewer students than 40 years ago for a cost that's doubled in just 14 years. If the teacher pay raises in Flin Flon are any indication, the public treasury looting by the unions will continue lest taxpayers demand better.


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Tom Barak -- Bio and Archives

Tom is a Canadian-based freelance marketing consultant and writer and has been a long-time member of the Conservative movement. He received his MBA accreditation from the University of Manitoba and splits his time fundraising for community centres and mentoring and consulting with local and national businesses.


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