Dear Editor:
The B.C. government is legislating teachers with an imposed contract after fruitless attempts at bargaining came up with no resolution. Why was the bargaining process so unsuccessful? What are teachers so upset about?
What is not being reported about the bargaining process was that the government was coming to the bargaining table with concessions, not just "net zero." The government wanted to remove items from the teachers' contract, some of which would definitely change the way teachers teach students, and not for the better. This is not a "net-zero" mandate, this is a negative mandate.
Teachers are concerned about their contract being decimated because they know that clauses enshrined in the contract protect learning conditions in the classroom. Case in point: Teachers gave up raises in the '90s (zero per cent for eight years straight over three successive contracts), in order to have class size and special needs composition limits written into the contract, along with guaranteed specific numbers of learning support teachers, librarians and counsellors.
In 2001, the government stripped that contract, taking away the class size and composition limits and the guaranteed numbers of support teachers. Guess what happened to class sizes after that? Yes, they were larger than the previous limits, and the numbers of special needs students rose in many classes as well. Plus, there were severe cutbacks to support teachers who help the many students in need.
Teachers, angry at the strips, took the government to court. In 2011, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the government was "unconstitutional" in stripping the contract and ordered the government to fix the problem within 12 months. Has the government allowed the teachers to bargain for class sizes, then? No. They refuse to consider it, despite the court order!
Hence, teachers know that if clauses get stripped from the contract, there is a good chance that it will be nearly impossible to get them back. How have these contract strips affected your kids so far? Large class sizes mean less attention for all students. Fewer support staff mean fewer services like counselling and learning support for struggling students who, without these services, fall through the cracks. Students with behaviour issues, or with some special needs that aren't supported, disrupt the class and thus disrupt the learning for all students. The government refuses to address these concerns, even though teachers have been calling for change for 10 years.
What about money? The government insists that there is no money to be had in today's economy; that they need to stick to their net-zero mandate. Let's look at the facts. Since the government's stripping of the teacher's contract in 2001, they have removed an average of $300 million in student services per year. That adds up to $3 billion!
This, in spite of the fact that B.C.'s economy surged from 2001 to 2008. They have cut back in education funding even in the "boom years" of B.C.'s economy. B.C. used to spend 26 per cent of its annual budget on education; over the last 10 years, that number has fallen to 15 per cent. Therefore, it is not the fault of the economy that the education system is underfunded, it is the fault of government priorities. Can we say "tax cuts"?
Teachers are also concerned about the future of education in this province. If the current underfunding continues, public education in this province will begin to falter. B.C. teachers want all children in this province to have a quality education, whether they are rich, poor, refugees, special needs, ESL and all the rest in between.
Teachers do not want an erosion of the good public school system that we have in this province, one that some other countries have tried to emulate. Teachers do not want parents to have to choose between paying large amounts for private school or sending their students to a public system that is underfunded (which has happened in some countries, such as Australia and the U.S.A.).
Teachers believe that, in Canada, a good education for all benefits society by helping students become responsible, contributing members of society. How can we do that if the system is underfunded? How can we ensure that all children in B.C. get a decent chance at a good education?
If you believe in public education, support us teachers. End the decade of cuts.
Jennifer Heighton, Burnaby teacher
