When everything falls apart, what binds us together?
Public education can't take any more, and these teachers don't trust a socialist government whose president was elected with the votes of Comuns and Esquerra. It's yet another serious manifestation of a growing social and emotional disconnect from harsh reality. It's serious because it's the teachers, but four days ago it was the doctors, and shortly before that, the farmers. And what about the commuter rail users of Renfe?
This week could be a palindrome: it started with a teachers' strike and could end without a budget.
As you know, Today the teachers have taken to the streetsIn Barcelona, they blocked traffic at several points, including the ring roads, and encountered the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) who detained them for a few minutes while they were identified. These are teachers who disagree with the agreement signed last week between the Department of Education and the unions CCOO and UGT, which included a gross annual salary increase of €1,500 over four years and a reduction in class sizes, specifically one less student per classroom over three years, among other measures.
A teachers' strike always makes an impression. They're assumed to be approachable, selfless, and sensitive because they teach children, but teachers have been warning about this for some time now, and they've said enough. Their job is getting harder every day. "Mine, too!" I could say, and it's true. However, the teachers' job is especially tough. School is the first line of defense in the battle for the integration of newcomers, for their first contact with our language, and for addressing the family, linguistic, cultural, and personal diversity of children who present new special needs every day, especially since screens have entered their lives and made them more easily distracted. And all of this is compounded by a loss of authority, bureaucracy, and low salaries. Mirin, this morning around 8, TV3 had a team in the street and asked a teacher why they were striking, and she answered simply and plainly:
"Why has he decided to go back out on the street?"
Because public schools are going to hell. We have fewer and fewer resources and we're increasingly overwhelmed. And clearly we can't rely on the Department to defend public schools, so it's up to us to go out and do it ourselves.
Public education can't take any more, and these teachers don't trust a socialist government whose president was elected with the votes of Comuns and Esquerra. This is yet another serious manifestation of a growing social and emotional disconnect from harsh reality. It's serious because it's the teachers, but four days ago it was the doctors, and shortly before that, the farmers. And what about the commuter rail users of Renfe, who for years have been reliably prevented from getting to work or home on time? And what about those of us who pay taxes in Catalonia, who see our tax contributions disappear and never return? Collective morale is at a low point, and the political parties aren't doing their job, unless we consider their job to be putting their normal and necessary disagreements above our needs.
That's probably why we won't have a budget on Friday, because no matter how much the president... Isla says there is still time to reach an agreement with EsquerraWith four days to go before the vote in Parliament, there's no sign of a way to reach an agreement. And that's probably why, one day, instead of having a budget, we won't have a Parliament at all, because when trust breaks down, the system breaks down.
Good morning.
