Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

Different teams in BC have folded for different reasons, but most seem to be linked to the difficulty in establishing community based mentorship relationships, thus leaving the bulk of the responsibility for organizing the team on one teacher, or a small team of teachers, at the school.

When the lead teacher moves on to a new job, or has to take time away from the team for other issues, someone needs to be able to step into the gap... or the team folds.

In my case, when I took a new job in post-secondary education there was no one at David Thompson Secondary willing to step in to be the lead teacher for the team... so although we had healthy sponsorship arrangements (thank you General Motors Canada, in particular) in place, and plenty of students wanting to be involved, there was no one willing to say "I'm in charge!" and take the team forward.

I should also add that there is no provincial government funding or support for competitive robotics in BC... yet. Looking at provinces and states that have seen significant FRC growth over the past few years, the direct funding and indirect support of government can play a major role in establishing the groundwork for building FRC teams.

Perhaps somewhat related more to this thread I should add that I wasn't surprised to see that teachers were reluctant to volunteer for a task of FRC's magnitude. During my 13 years of teaching high school the BC government went through several rounds of "belt tightening" in the education system. Ultimately this downloads the cost of providing a decent curricular education on to teachers who now have more students in each class and fewer resources to teach them with. It is very clear to teachers (and, hopefully, students) that curricular activities must come before the extra-curricular activities. As the curricular demands on teachers were increased the time and energy available for extra-curricular activities decreased. In addition to this very practical constraint, I should add that many of the government's actions had a very negative impact on teacher morale. This affected extra-curricular activities from drama to athletics and, yes... robotics. It would be fair to say that even without an intentional "ban" on extracurricular activities government decisions had slowly and quietly been cutting away at teachers' ability and enthusiasm to support activities outside the classroom.

That is perhaps one of the reasons we are having good success with VRC here in BC. VEX can be integrated into the school curriculum much more easily than FRC due to the extended build/competition season. This year members of both the VRC World Championship Alliance, and the VRC World Finalist Alliance were from BC. (Yes, Gladstone Secondary had a 1-2 finish.)With luck, as our VRC team numbers continue to grow, we will build up a culture of competitive robotics in BC, and begin to form the corporate and governmental ties that have created the conditions for FRC to succeed in other provinces and states.

Jason

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

This seems to be a problem with small-town teams in general. I'm only now (in our eighth year) getting to the point where I'm comfortable that 1551 would survive if something (good or bad) happened to me.

That kind of structure can be hard to build, especially because of the time commitment -- but it was probably easier than I made it. Live and learn!

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/...714/story.html

Word on the street is that Mr. McGuinty has resigned and "prorogues legislature". I wonder what this will mean regarding Bill 115 and Robotics.

"He says there was little hope of getting the public sector wage freeze the minority government needs to trim the $14.4-billion deficit because the opposition parties are opposed, so he adjourned the legislature to allow time for negotiations."

Hopes are high!

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

His resignation is effective as of a date to be determined later. The prorogation¹ was effective immediately (October 15).

It will have no direct impact. Bill 115 passed the Legislature and received royal assent on September 11. It was proclaimed into force² on September 22, retroactive to September 12. (The government has since made two regulations under the act, relating to wage deductions and sick leave.)

Indirectly, it might affect the negotiations—for better or for worse.

That's a different labour issue, for public sector workers in general, rather than education workers specifically.

¹ Declaring an inter-session break, like an adjournment in the U.S. Congress.
² Except for section 20 (the self-repealing clause) and sections 22 and 23 (which should probably have been proclaimed into force, but for which I assume that the omission was immaterial).

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

A little unfortunate news. The "strike" has officially startedd, but just barely, as of right now it is the teacher's decision wether to continue extra curricular activities.

News article from The Windsor Star.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/11...strike-action/

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

I stand by my view that FRC Mentors will in general go against the union's requests.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/...kids-out-of-it

The Ontario Secondary Teacher's Federation has announced that all extracurricular activities are to be boycotted, effective no later than Monday December 10. Teachers can be fined by their union for going against this.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

How large is the fine?

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

Crossing a picket line is a risky move regardless of fines. It can cause grudges with a union that can work against you for years.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

Yeah I'm just wondering what the union is threatening them with.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

To Jared's point, violation can result in open publication of their name as well as suspension of union services. The fine itself is up to $500/day. :eek:

News article

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

So sad that they can do this. I wish these teams and their teachers good luck.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

If an employer retaliated against an employee with a $500 fine, would a union stand for it? The union seems to have lost its sense of purpose, in its zeal to win.

The fine is likely a bluff calculated to intimidate. The union can bill the member whatever it wants, but if the member won't pay, the union would have to sue them for breach of contract—which I can't see going well for the union. (Do they even have a membership agreement that can be enforced contractually? Not to mention the public relations issues that the trial would present.) Kicking the member out might be problematic as well; I'm not sure if the union's charter or membership agreement permits that. Suspension of services and outing them are probably legal, as long as they don't defame the member in doing so.

In fact, while the union has probably kept the threat of a fine relatively quiet in the past, openly announcing it was perhaps the biggest gift they could give to the Ontario government. Now the government can say that it's invoking the bill 115 provisions in order to prevent the union from punishing teachers who are committed to the students' extracurriculars. If there's anything that can soften the public's justifiably negative opinion of bill 115, it's that.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

In my personal opinion we are going to see much greater financial challenges for robotics teams. Although I agree that we should not try to use Chief Delphi for a political discussion, I do think we as mentors, need to be involved in politics if we want to move the STEAM agenda ahead.

In the past few months I have been encouraging folks in my community to be involved in local politics and I, myself have decided to run for school board.

So if you think the political environment is not better for robotics than in the past, I would encourage for those that have the experience, knowledge and a servant heart, to run for public office and make your community an great community thru robotics and STEAM education.

Cheers,
MC. - In April , vote for MC for school Board.

Re: Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?
 

2013 ought to be an interesting year for the FRC community in Ontario. Some teachers will (quite rightly) tell their union to shove it, and continue FRCing regardless of the consequences (real or imagined) it might carry. Other teams may sit the year out (or become extinct), while others will turn to their mentors in industry to carry the load.

Teams whose lead mentors are not directly affiliated with their school and have a non-teacher's-union controlled place to work, such as 1114, Karthik (who works for IFIs Canadian Office), and their closed DSBN school gymnasium practice facility, shared with 2056 and the rest of NiagaraFIRST, will likely weather the storm whilst ruffling the fewest feathers with the union.

ETFO (The Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario) members in Simcoe county (Barrie area) started a work-to-rule effective yesterday.

OSSTF (The Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation) is expected to follow suit.