A place to share my experiences as a TTOC and Middle School Teacher. Resources, ideas and important issues in education.
But this time it’s different. Through social media, teachers have been able to dispel public apathy. We’ve been able to refute government talking points with a barrage of non-partisan statistics and historic facts, most of which can be pulled directly from the Supreme Court ruling. This time, we’ve finally got a chance to make things better instead of watching them get worse.
And now, the teachers have called a strike vote.
The timing is tough. Teachers are weary by June. We are uncomfortable leaving the students with a bad feeling before summer break, and we’re tired of fighting –of losing pay to strike days, of having 10% cut from our salaries. Many teachers would rather not further anger parents.
On the other hand, a strong ‘yes’ vote will show a cynical government that it can never defeat us. It will show the government that no matter what it does to us, we will stand up in solidarity.
In this last, desperate battle before the judiciary lowers the boom, the government will throw all of its grenades, and things are likely to get ugly. Already rumours abound of a lockout for September, whether we strike or not. They want to punish us.
But for me there is no more fear. I don’t care what the government does to me any more. I have fought too long, and endured too much heartache to give up now. We are so close! If we hold rank we can win. We have the Charter and the Court of Law on our side.
Teachers fight for students everyday. Fight for smaller classes, more support, specialist teachers and a safe place to learn and grow. My union fights for me. Fights for improved salary, benefits and better working conditions. Don't get it confused... Teachers always 'do more with less' so just because we ask for a fair wage to catch up with teachers across Canada (many with lower cost of living) doesn't mean we are greedy. We care about your kids, but have families of our own too. Funding needs to go into education, for better working conditions for teachers, which is better learning conditions for kids. Thank-you to everyone who supports public education. We will keep fighting until this government makes it a priority!As the struggle continues in British Columbia for public education to become a priority for the BC Liberal government, I find myself constantly having to defend my job, my union, and my students. For some reason, there is this divide... just because teachers want better working conditions including salary, benefits, prep time and smaller classes, they are somehow greedy and not passionate about teaching. Many somehow believe that improving things for teachers doesn't positively impact students.
Educators must have listened to Christy Clark during the May election campaign with mixed emotions. She couldn't get through a 30-second sound bite without chirping "Grow the economy!" at least twice. Sure, it's a good idea to grow the economy. In fact, educators do it well, and could do it even better.
But despite being a teacher's daughter, Clark has never shown much appreciation for that fact, starting with her long-ago stint as education minister presiding over Gordon Campbell's first assault on B.C. teachers. With September approaching, the premier would do well to heed this reminder: underfunding schools only short-changes the economy.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has plenty of evidence to prove it. For example, last June, its education blog compared employment statistics for a number of OECD countries, including Canada.
It showed young Canadians with less than high school graduation had only a 59 per cent employment rate in 2011. The same age group, with tertiary (or post-secondary) education, had 84 per cent.
When it came to tertiary education spending, the OECD average in 2010 was 20 per cent above that of 2005, and such spending took up an average of 1.6 per cent of GDP.
The OECD's Country Notes for Canada throw some encouraging light on how we're doing: 51 per cent of Canadian adults held a tertiary qualification in 2011, up 11 per cent over 2000. That makes us the best-educated nation in the OECD, where the average in 2011 was 32 per cent.
Far from creating 10 years of peace, Premier Christy Clark’s insistence on a longer-term contract with B.C.’s teachers guarantees four more years of bitter wrangling.
In January, Clark said she would seek a 10-year labour deal with teachers in which salary increases would be indexed to increases received by other public-sector employees, calling it a framework that would bring a decade of stability to classrooms. Teachers would still have the right to strike, but not over wages.http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/editorial-ten-year-deal-no-path-to-peace-1.306825
Predictably, the plan was quickly dismissed by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation as an election ploy.
Meanwhile, the BCTF and the B.C. Public School Employers Association went to work figuring out a mutually acceptable structure for contract negotiations, and appeared to have developed a respectful atmosphere. The two sides were scheduled to sit down for more talks this week, but Clark has poked a stick into the hornets’ nest by resurrecting the idea of a long-term agreement with teachers.
The premier claims she has a mandate to pursue the 10-year deal, but it was not an election issue. The B.C. Liberals’ platform was focused on the economy, holding the line on taxes and paying down the debt. Besides, how can anyone say British Columbians voted for a particular plank in a platform? It’s just as likely they were voting against the New Democrats as they were for anything in particular offered by the Liberals.
Far from fostering peace, Clark’s plan will only anger teachers further. The government already wields the big club — the ability to legislate the teachers back to work — and imposing an unpalatable and unworkable framework on the negotiations won’t smooth the rough relationship between government and teachers. It’s disrespectful and heavy-handed.
The Liberals’ strengthened majority might give Clark new muscle in telling government what to do, but she can’t tell teachers how to think and feel.
A 10-year agreement would be bad for both sides. No one knows what the economy and the demographics will be like 10 years down the road.
One of the main reasons for periodic negotiations is to work out an agreement that takes into consideration changing conditions.
Clark is not wrong in wanting labour peace for B.C.’s schools. Others want it, too — that’s what motivated the school boards and teachers to work out a new and respectful approach to bargaining. It would not have created an instant Shangri-La in which everyone was happy and everyone had everything they wanted, but it was a step in the right direction.
Clark should leave well enough alone. There’s no shame in proposing a new plan. The shame is in clinging to that plan long after it’s obvious the plan is unworkable.
The relationship between government and teachers has been strained for many years. If Clark wants 10 years of labour peace — and it’s a commendable goal — she should seek to build a trustful, respectful relationship with teachers, one in which hard bargaining can take place without acrimony. That can’t happen if she unilaterally imposes new rules on the negotiating process.
It’s disturbing that the premier thinks she can put out the fire by throwing gasoline on it.
PARENTS' AND TEACHERS' CONCERNS New Westminster parent Janet Reid has watched her son and daughter go through B.C.'s public system and has been impressed with innovative programs under the B.C. Education Plan and ACE-IT trades training. With a change in government, she said, "(she's) afraid that we will at least be back to Square 1 while they get up to speed," said Reid. Teachers, too, are nervous, for other reasons. "I feel we have tried and tried again with the Liberals and I haven't seen a lot of positive outcomes," said Coquitlam teacher Amanda Long. "I think it's time for a fresh start." Long said she's seen the effect of larger classes and fewer supports. Her daughter lost learning support between Grades 2 and 3. According to the government, classes with over 30 students have fallen from over 9,200 in 2005-06 to 1,360 in 2012-13; per student funding is up from $6,262 per student in 2000-01 to $8,493 in 2012-13. The teachers' union counters funding has fallen as a percentage of provincial GDP - 19.6 per cent in 200102 to 15 per cent in 2011-12, representing a $1.6-billion shortfall. It stresses that 12,650 classes have over four designated special-needs students and 10,300 have over four ESL students. Debate over statistics, and what they mean, is a familiar feature of the entrenched opposition between the teachers and B.C. Liberals.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/business/public+education/8286887/story.html#ixzz2RjeytK2j
The NDP released their platform finally today.
BCNDP 13/04/18 Election Platform: Improving Public Education by Langley Teachers' Association
On April 13, 2011 the BC Teachers’ Federation won a major victory in its decade-long court battle to overturn legislation which stripped teachers’ collective agreements of protections for class sizes, as well as guarantees of support for students with special needs. The bills had disastrous consequences for teaching and learning conditions across the province because they enabled government to make severe cuts to the public education budget. Government documents introduced as evidence in court calculated those cuts to be more than $275 million per year in 2001 dollars, an estimated $330 million annually in current dollars.
The Supreme Court gave government one year to deal with the repercussions of its ruling but now—two years later—the BC Liberals have still done nothing to redress the breach. As a result, the BCTF has been compelled to go back to court seeking a fair remedy.
“The Supreme Court affirmed our collective bargaining rights and gave us hope that a decade of struggling to meet our students’ needs might be coming to an end,” said BCTF President Susan Lambert. “Two years later, we are still urging the government to act on this important ruling and restore the services our students need and deserve.”
Then-Education Minister Christy Clark brought in the unconstitutional bills in 2002. During her tenure as premier, the BCTF has repeatedly appealed to her not to make students wait yet another year in underfunded schools and overcrowded classes.
Wrong!
Again!
Though this cut is to an important education program, so it makes sense they cut funding - that is what they do best!
VICTORIA - The B.C. government has cut funding to a Science World program that brought innovative education to hundreds of thousands of children across the province. In an interview Thursday, the chair of Science World's board of directors said his organization will no longer be able to run the Program for the Awareness and Learning of Science, which included free fieldtrips and touring educational science programs to communities around the province. "Why it's so important is we're of the view that graduates in science, technology, engineering and math are the natural resources of the future," said Andrew Harries, chair of Science World's board of directors, adding the BC PALS program helped inspire kids to follow careers in these areas. "Any government that doesn't recognize that is short changing its society." Harries said provincial funding of the program began in 2005, adding the province has contributed between $1 million and $2 million each year since. He said the program allowed Science World to extend its reach into communities across the province, including many First Nations communities. "Science World will roll up in a truck and it will take its hands on, highly visual and entertaining form of science learning to kids that just don't get to experience that," he said. "There are very few communities, in fact very few schools in the regions, that the PALS program hasn't reached in the past few years." Education Minister George Abbott has not yet commented on the issue. Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Clark+government+cuts+Science+World+program+kids/6856207/story.html#ixzz1z8K2rLKa
