教师舒适生活 vs.学生就业前景

Hudak’s job cutting plan: teachers’ lives vs. students’ job prospects

安省保守党党领胡达克的裁员计划，将会影响包括教师在内的公务员。一名28岁的安省教师因此在网上发出一封公开信，谴责胡达克的计划可能会剥夺他目前享有的舒适生活。Kevin Jia认为，鉴于安省学生的学业表现持续下滑，如果不进行变革，将会有更多学生无法找到工作，其生活状况也将无法与这位教师的生活水准相提并论。

Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak job cutting plan would affect public sector employees including teachers. A 28-year-old Ontario teacher posts an online letter denouncing Hudak’s plan that may deprive his comfortable living.  But as Ontario students’ school performance continues to decline, Kevin Jia believes that without a change, more students would be unable to find a job that provides a lifestyle this teacher currently enjoys.

我最近无意中在网上看到28岁的汉密尔顿教师特拉布科致安省保守党党领胡达克的一封公开信。他在信中称，胡达克的削减公务员计划将会终结他目前享受的舒适生活，即他和妻子还有爱犬生活刚刚购置的住宅中，他的儿子也即将出生。这封信自始至终都在抨击胡达克的政策——从砍掉30%学费补贴直到削减10万公务员，但特拉布科显然是优先考虑了自己的需要，却未从整体角度考虑安省的未来。I recently came across an open letter to Tim Hudak, posted online by Matthew Trabucco, a 28 year old Hamilton Teacher. In his letter, he addressed that Hudak’s public job cutting plan would end his way of life—Trabucco lives comfortably in his newly purchased home, his wife, dog, and his soon to be born son. Throughout the entire diatribe against Hudak’s policies—from axing the 30% tuition subsidy to cutting 100,000 public sector workers—Trabucco prioritizes his own needs rather than focusing on a holistic view of Ontario’s future.

特拉布科在信中描绘了一幅美好，但却具非真实的安省状况图。他称安省教师在尽心尽力地教导学生，安省甚至被公认为国际教育的领头羊。从本质上讲，特拉布科是在用自己的轶事证据为待遇过高的安省公共教育部门辩护。但是，他并未引用任何相关的统计数据，因此也未能赢得人们对教师的同情。Throughout the letter, Trabucco paints a rosy, but deluded, picture of Ontario. He claims that Ontario teachers are doing their upmost to properly educate students, and that Ontario is even recognized as a world leader in education. Essentially, Trabucco justifies the overfed public education sector in Ontario through his own anecdotal evidence. However, he fails to cite any relevant statistics and as a result,Trabucco fails to win over compassion for teachers.

不幸的是，特拉布科的说法实际上与事实相去甚远。在过去10年，安省教师变得越来越懒散，待遇越来越高。在所有安省民众都在 2008年经济衰退中苦苦挣扎时，教师继续获得每年3%的加薪。由于愤怒的市民赞同冻结教师工资，教师们变得歇斯底里。教师们作出了何种反应？他们像被灌坏了孩子一样，他们削减了学生的体育活动、课外活动和艺术培训，他们将矛头对准了弱势群体。Unfortunately, what Trabucco claims is reality couldn’t be any further from the truth. Ontario teachers have become increasingly lazy and entitled in the past 10 years. While all Ontarians struggled through the 2008 recession, teachers continued their 3% annual increase in salaries. As outraged citizensfroze their wages, the result prompted mass hysteria amongst teachers. And how did teachers respond? Like brats, they cut sports, extra-curricular, and arts training to students—they targeted the vulnerable.

教师工会已经变成懒散、自私自利和权利资格的机构倡导者。虽然教师继续向纳税人索取，但他们的教学技能却越来越迟钝。至于安省的“国际教育领头羊”地位，国际学生评估项目（PISA）报告显示，安省学生的数学成绩比全球排名第一的上海学生落后近100分。此外，安省学生的阅读和科学成绩也不尽如人意，分别落后于韩国和越南。最糟糕的是，安省教育质素及问责办公室亦宣布，安省学生的数学成绩已经连续五年下降。Unions have become institutional advocates for laziness, selfishness, and entitlement.While teachers continue to demand more from tax payers, their teaching skills have dulled. As for Ontario’s ‘world leading education’, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reports that mathematic scores for Ontario students lag nearly 100 points behind world leader, Shanghai.It doesn’t get any better for reading and science; behind Korea and Vietnam, respectively. Here’s the worst part; EQAO has even announced that mathematics scores have fallen for 5 straight years.

可能最令我难以认可的是，年仅28岁且已经买房成家立业的特拉布科认为，他享有的生活是上帝赐予的权利。他的整封信目的是要设法继续维持他的特权生活方式。但是作为教育工作者，特拉布科和所有教师难道不应该将学生的成功，而非他在汉密尔顿的房产作为当务之急吗？从2011年教师罢工、学生糟糕的测试成绩到这封公开信显然证明特拉布科和教师工会并不关心学生的福祉，而是一心想要维持其舒适生活。
Perhaps what bothers me the most is that Mr. Trabucco, just 28 years old and already set in a home, believes that his house is a god given right. His entire letter is a sap-story plea to maintain his privileged lifestyle. But as educators, shouldn’t Mr. Trabucco and all teachers have their student’s success as a top priority and not his Hamilton house? Evident from the 2011 strike, abysmal test scores, and his letter, Trabucco and the teachers union doesn’t care about the well-being of students—they’re comfortable lives must remain untouched.

但我想谈谈另一个问题。从宏观角度来看，臃肿的公共部门已经摧毁私营部门创造就业的能力。由于安省$2800亿元巨额债务导致税务飞涨，令企业压力沉重。因此，近期的毕业生将不得不面对难堪的就业市场。随着一些大公司关闭工厂和搬迁，安省在2014年已经流失39,000个就业岗位，而这些重担往往会压在学生肩上。今年将年满20岁的我，前途一片渺茫。
But I digress. The larger picture here is that the bloated public sector has ruined private job creation. Ontario’ $280 billion debt has put immense pressure on businesses as taxes have skyrocketed. The result is the embarrassing job market that is today’s unfortunate reality for recent grads.Just in 2014, Ontario shed 39,000 jobs with several large corporations closing plants and relocating—students always shoulder the burden. This year, I will turn 20 and my prospects for the future are murky.

对于我们这代人来说，在目前的经济环境中寻找工作是难上加难，因为安省的就业市场在最近10年一直持续恶化。由于安省15至24岁年轻人的失业率高达17%，目前只有半数安省青年能够幸运地找到一份持久的工作。由于许多近期毕业的大学生都难以在安省找到体面的工作，胡达克提出的裁员计划令数千名教师害怕自己也会加入不断扩大的失业大军。
For my generation, finding employment has never been harder in this economy as the job market in Ontario has deteriorated within just 10 years. Today, only 1 in 2 youths are fortunate to hold a sustaining job now, with the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds pegged at 17%. Scores of recent university grads are struggling in Ontario to find decent work and with Hudak’s cuts, thousands of teachers, are terrified at prospect of becoming part of this growing demographic.

但是我对特拉布科也有一些同情，毕竟没有人真的愿意看到教师陷入困境。但是，胡达克提出的裁员计划会向教师传递一个强烈的信息，那就是教师需要通过更实用的技能更好地教育学生，同时还要减轻企业的税务负担——但我也可以打赌地说，安省自由党将会一如既往地继续浪费公帑和课征重税。
But I have some sympathy for Trabucco—no one actually wants to see teachers struggling. However, Hudak’s proposed cuts would send the teachers a strong message to better educate students with more practical skills and simultaneously alleviate burdening taxes on businesses—you can bet the Liberals will monotonously stay the course of waste and over-taxation.

年轻一代从未如此渴望改变。在孩提时代，我曾经梦想自己在28岁时就能成家立业。但是当我进入大三时，一想到自由党省府还会执政10年就会不寒而栗。按照目前的就业形势和教育水平，我可能永远也无法享有特拉布科目前享受的特权生活方式。
The young generation has never been so desperate for change. As a child, I used to dream I would own a home when I’m 28. But as I embark on my third year of university, I can only shudder at the thought of another decade of Liberal rule. With this current job market and educational standards,I may never live a privileged lifestyle that Mr. Trabucco presently enjoys.