Thanks for the clarification. We have similar political problems with teachers. I actually have no problem with teachers forming unions, if they want to. But I kind of find it odd that they consider themselves "professionals" yet still have unions. It reminds me of Quebec, where ingénieurs (engineers) all belong to a union. Mind you, at least Quebec has spawned a rather unique tradition in the rest of the country. Back in the early part of the 20th century some time (I have no idea when, without looking it up), a big steel bridge was built across a gorge (I think it was the Saguenay River, north of Montreal, but again, am not exactly sure). The bridge collapsed after it was built, killing a number of people who were driving on it at the time.
Ever since then, when an engineer in Canada graduates with a B.Eng. or a B.Sc. in Engineering, and works in the field for one year, they become eligible to join their provincial engineering association. At this time they are allowed to put P.Eng. (Professional Engineer; or in Quebec, I.Pro.) after their name. As a token of the swearing-in ceremony they are given a stainless steel ring to wear around their right little finger. It's to remind them how serious their profession is; lives are literally at stake. So if you ever see a Canadian with the telltale thin steel band around their pinky, you know they're an engineer. In fact, Microsoft Canada used to call their sales people "sales engineers," but the national umbrella body (ARPEGGA, I think it's called, but can't remember what that stands for) convinced Microsoft to change the title. I think they are called "account managers" or something like that now (which is more accurate anyway). And of course, thanks to the AMA (in our case that means the Alberta Medical Association) you could say even doctors are unionized. Jon Spencer wrote: > The NEA is the teachers' Union, the National Education Association. The NEA > used to be a great organization many moons ago, but has since become very > political and agenda driven. > > And it's good that SOMEONE can brag about their schools. It's a pretty hard > thing to do here about our public schools. However, some private and > parochial schools, as well as a few public and charter schools (like the one > my 16 year old goes to) do very well indeed. > > Jon > > Marc A. Schindler wrote: > > Sorry, that went over my head. Who's the NEA? (BTW, I know that original > post > could be taken to be nationalist bragging, but it was meant more to provide > ammunition to those who are for, in your case, state-wide exams, and making > school > administrators more accountable for the performance of their students. As I > said, > we should have done even better). > > Jon Spencer wrote: > > ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland “Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on” – Winston Churchill Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^^=============================================================== This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^^===============================================================
