By: Neal Resnikoff

Current struggle by British Columbia teachers

June 23, 2014

from BC Worker

BC Teachers' Strike

Develop the Struggle in Defence

of the Rights of BC Teachers and

Public Education!

Join in Actions to Defend Public Education!

BC teachers' "All Together for Public Education" rally, June 19, 2014, Canada Place, Vancouver.

Nanaimo

Monday, June 23

4:00 pm -- March; 5:00 pm -- Rally

March starts at Wall St, Rally at Maffeo Sutton Park

Articles on--

Develop the Struggle in Defence

of the Rights of BC Teachers and Public Education!

� All Together for Public Education Rally

� Government's Insidious Manoeuvre -- A Further Assault on Teachers

and Public Education - Barbara Biley

� Call for Mediation - BC Teachers' Federation

� The Fight to Provide Rights with a Guarantee: Teachers' Working Conditions

Are Students' Learning Conditions

� Class Composition: A Major Consideration for K-12 Education - Interview,

Stephanie Koropatnick, Vice President, Special Education Association of BC

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Develop the Struggle in Defence

of the Rights of BC Teachers and Public Education!

All Together for Public Education Rally

A spirited rally of more than 2,000 people took place at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver June 19. Lower Mainland teachers, parents, workers in different sectors and students rallied to demand the provincial government increase investments in public education to lower class size, accommodate special needs students with specialized teachers and pay teachers commensurate with the important service they provide society.

Speakers included Jim Iker, President BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF); Jim Sinclair, President, BC Federation of Labour; Hassan Yussuff, President, CLC; Paul Faoro, Secretary-Treasurer, CUPE BC; Jordan, a parent from Victoria; and, the grade 12 valedictorian from Britannia High School. Paul Elliott, President of the Ontario Secondary Teachers Association also spoke announcing a $1.5 million donation to the BCTF from three teachers' federations in Ontario.

Jim Iker made a special acknowledgement of the presence at the rally of Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, who has spoken out often and publicly in support of increased investments for public education in BC.

(Photos: TML, BCTF)

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Government's Insidious Manoeuvre -- A Further Assault on Teachers and Public Education

- Barbara Biley -

Media reports say the two sides in the teacher's dispute met on the June 14/15 weekend to hammer out a collective agreement. It is misinformation to characterize what took place as negotiations between the union and management. While the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) made a new proposal to the employers' association, the response by Liberal government spokespeople made it clear that no resolution was reached and would not be reached unless teachers gave up their defence of their rights and public education.

Over the course of public sector bargaining in 2014, and most clearly with the teachers, the pretext of the agencies of the state such as the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) being an "arms length" party has been completely dropped. The determination of the Liberal government to impose an anti-social austerity agenda of destruction of public education, health care and social services and to turn public sector workers into modern day slaves with no rights has become clear.

In response to the government's refusal to negotiate, BCTF President Jim Iker addressed BC teachers in a live-streamed video/press conference on Monday morning June 17. The teachers had gathered in study sessions across the province in preparation of the full scale strike the following day.

Iker explained that on Friday, June 13, the BCTF amended its wage demands, the length of contract (up to five years from four) and proposed a means of handling the issue of class size and composition pending the decision of the Court of Appeal. On Sunday night, the BCPSEA presented the union with a "Framework for Settlement," a package with virtually no change from its previous positions on wages, term and other provisions and no response to BCTF's Friday initiative.

But BCPSEA snuck in something entirely new and completely unacceptable. Under the guise of "negotiations," the BC government devised a new tactic to trample on teachers' rights and public education, and defy two court rulings. It proposed that should either party to the collective agreement disagree with the "ultimate judicial decision" on class size and composition, then either party could serve notice on the other to end the collective agreement at the conclusion of the year.

If the court once again orders the government to restore the class size and composition language it unilaterally stripped in 2002 from the collective agreement, then ending the collective agreement would be a way to defy the court and make teachers complicit in the government's contempt. Is this not a truly insidious government manoeuvre?

The clash between the BC teachers and the Liberal government reflects a struggle between a modern society based on the recognition of rights including the right to the highest quality public education for all, and a retrogressive outlook of a society based on privilege and the power of a self-serving minority to impose its will.

Stand with teachers in their just battle in defence of rights and public education!

BCPSEA Proposal E. 81

Paragraph 4 of BCPSEA Proposal E.81 dated June 15, 2014, reads, "Subject to paragraph 5 below, if the ultimate judicial decision specifically directs that the class size, class composition and non-enrolling provisions from the 1998-2001 Collective Agreement are restored to the current (2013-2019) provincial collective agreement, the parties will amend the collective agreement accordingly, and the amended provisions will be effective at the beginning of the school year after the date of the ultimate judicial decision (of, if the decision is published after the end of February, effective at the beginning of the school year in the year following.) The amendments will then prospectively replace the provisions set out in E.80. (Emphasis BC Worker)

Except for "Subject to paragraph 5 below," paragraph 4 sounds sensible. What then is "Paragraph 5 below"? It reads, "The following applies, despite paragraph 4, if either party is dissatisfied with the outcome otherwise required by paragraph 4. Within 60 days of the ultimate judicial decision, either party may give written notice to the other of termination of the collective agreement. If notice is given, the collective agreement terminates at the end of that school year, unless the ultimate judicial decision occurs after the end of February, in which case the termination takes place at the end of the following school year. Until a new agreement is concluded, the provisions set out in E.80 continue in force."

E.80 of the BCPSEA proposal, entitled "Learning and Working Condition" explicitly states, "BCPSEA does not agree with the BCTF's assertion that a judicial decision can or will determine the content of the new (2013 to 2019) collective agreement with respect to those matters."

The rest of E.80 reiterates the status quo on class size and composition and the establishment of "a fact-finding committee to establish an improved base of information to better inform decisions in the allocation of the LIF (Learning Improvement Fund)." The LIF was part of Bill 22, which the court found to be as much a violation of the law as Bill 28.

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Call for Mediation

- BC Teachers' Federation, June 19, 2014 (Excerpts) -

Following two more days of face-to-face bargaining and continued stonewalling from the government and its bargaining agent, the BC Teachers' Federation is calling on Premier Christy Clark to agree to mediation.

[The government agreed to mediation on June 20. However, on June 22, the mediator agreed to by both sides, Vince Ready, said his schedule is too busy to permit taking on the dispute -- BC Worker.]

[...]

"BC teachers have moved significantly at the bargaining table to bring the two sides closer together, but we have not seen similar efforts from Christy Clark's government," said (BCTF President) Ike....

The BCTF's framework for settlement that is currently on the table is based on five key points:

- a five-year term

- a reasonable 8% salary increase plus signing bonus

- no concessions

- a $225 million annual workload fund to address issues of class size, class composition, and staffing ratios as an interim measure while both parties await the next court ruling

- a $225 million retroactive grievances fund, over the life of the collective agreement, as a resolution to Justice Griffin's BC Supreme Court decision that retroactively restored the stripped language from 2002. This fund would be used to address other working conditions like preparation time and TTOC (Teachers Teaching on Call) compensation improvements, as well as modest improvements to health benefits.

"Our proposals are fair," said Iker. "We have been dealing with a government that has a record of bargaining in bad faith and imposing unconstitutional legislation. Evidence from the government's own officials presented in BC Supreme Court shows the government has stripped $275 million per year from BC's public education system. That means an entire generation of BC kids have been short-changed. There is no reason BC's education system should be funded $1,000 per student below the national average. This government built in a series of surpluses and a sizeable contingency fund in their fiscal plan over the next several years. They have the money. It's time to reinvest in BC's students."

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The Fight to Provide Rights with a Guarantee: Teachers' Working Conditions Are

Students' Learning Conditions

One of the key contract demands of BC teachers focuses on class size and composition. Prior to 2002, the collective agreement between the BC Teachers Federation and the BC Public School Employers' Association contained language that limited class size and provided for adjustments to class size depending on the number of students in the class who required extra assistance. That language was unilaterally stripped from the collective agreement by the Campbell Liberal government in 2002. Not only were the class size limits and arrangements for properly teaching children, including those with special needs, stripped from the collective agreement, the legislation also decreed that class size and composition could not be the subject of negotiations between the teachers' union and the employers' association.

That legislation, the Public Education and Flexibility Act, Bill 28, was appealed. Twice Madame Justice Griffin of the Supreme Court of BC, first in 2011 and again in January of this year, has found that Bill 28 was unconstitutional and directed the government to restore the contract language from 2002, to recognize the right of teachers to bargain class size and composition, and to negotiate in good faith.

In the first instance, the government simply ignored the ruling. When teachers were negotiating in 2012, the Liberal government rammed through virtually identical legislation, the Education Improvement Act, Bill 22, which likewise the court found illegal. In the second instance, the government has appealed the ruling of the court, which is pending.

BC Worker fully supports the stand that BC teachers have taken in defence of their working conditions, which are the learning conditions of students and of crucial importance to the quality of public education. The people demand increased funding for public education and firmly oppose the transfer and draining of value out of social programs and public services into the coffers of the rich.

We are presenting below an interview with Stephanie Koropatnick, a teacher and the Vice President of the Special Education Association of BC on the importance of this aspect of teachers' work.

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Class Composition: A Major Consideration

for K-12 Education

- Interview, Stephanie Koropatnick, Vice President,

Special Education Association of BC -

BC Worker: What is your responsibility in the school system?

Stephanie Koropatnick: As a district resource teacher (Inclusion Consultant) in Vancouver, BC's second largest district, my assignment is to assist teachers throughout the district who are supporting students with what the Ministry of Education calls "Low Incidence" designations, both in "Inclusive" settings (regular classrooms) and a small number of district classes.

"Low Incidence" categories include students with significant challenges in their physical abilities, cognitive abilities, sensory abilities (vision and hearing), as well as chronic health conditions and ASD (Autism in its various forms). Although the term "Low Incidence" is meant to imply infrequency or rarity, the incidence of several disorders, particularly Autism, has been rising steadily over the past decade or so . In 2012, the Center for Disease Control estimated 1 in 88 children as diagnosed with ASD. Other sites cite estimates as high as 1 in 48, meaning that, on average, 1 out of every 2 classrooms across the province will enroll one or more children identified with ASD.

BCW: Do they all receive funding?

SK: These are the only categories of special needs which receive any sort of targeted funding from the Ministry of Education. When contract language was stripped in 2002, funding was also stripped and rolled into base-level funding for students with any other form of special learning need. This is how the Ministry of Education of the day could brag that per-pupil funding had been increased.

BCW: Who is not included in Ministry of Education funding?

SK: The "High Incidence" special needs categories that receive no targeted funding include:

Learning Disability -- Students with cognitive skills within the average range, but with specific areas of weakness requiring targeted learning strategies to help them to reach their learning potential.

Mild Intellectual Disability -- Students with below-average cognitive abilities who require significantly adapted and/or modified curriculum.

Mild Mental Health/Behaviour Disorders* - Students with a wide variety of social and emotional difficulties (including, but not restricted to issues related to poverty and mental illness), which tend to manifest in classroom settings as difficulties with self-regulation and non-compliance. These students typically require Positive Behaviour Support strategies and interventions to allow them to access their learning potential.

Gifted -- Students with well above average to superior cognitive abilities, who often require targeted teaching strategies and enriched environments to help them reach their learning potential.

The one special needs category that does receive some funding is the Severe Mental Health/Behaviour Disorder category, which is partially funded with strict restrictions that have little to do the severity of the behavior but limit funding eligibility.

BCW: What process gives rise to Ministry of Education funding?

SK: Each and every child who presents with any of the above "special needs," whether Low Incidence or High Incidence, requires an Individual Education Plan. Identifying and assessing the specific needs which are to be addressed; developing the specific, targeted, learning goals; and, identifying and implementing the teaching strategies, resources and personnel involved in teaching, monitoring and evaluating progress toward the individual goals are all steps involved in "Writing the Individual Education Plan."

BCW: How difficult is it for teachers to give rise to an Individual Education Plan?

SK: Each Individual Education Plan takes dedicated time, effort and thoughtfulness in collaboration with a team, which ideally includes the classroom teacher, the parents and an experienced resource teacher trained in the many skills involved in providing targeted support to students with special needs, as well as with the ability to collaborate with their classroom-based colleagues. Many teams also include support staff, whose role it is to assist in implementing the Individual Education Plan. This plan is expected to be fully implemented by the end of October each school year. Ongoing monitoring, assessment, re-evaluation, retrenchment, as well as the writing of new goals take place throughout the year informally, and toward the end of the year formally.

BCW: What was the situation like before 2002?

SK: Prior to 2002, contract language restricted the number of students with Individual Education Plans in a typical classroom to two. For each two children with an Individual Education Plan in a classroom of 30, the class number was reduced by one. A third child with an Individual Education Plan could be added only after consultation with the classroom teacher, and the class-size would then be further reduced by one more student. While this was not always a perfect solution, it provided a guideline to ensure that the extra work (as described above) involved in having a child with special needs was more or less evenly distributed among classroom teachers.

BCW: Remind us what Christy Clark did as Minister of Education in 2002.

SK: In 2002, all language related to classroom composition was eliminated through legislation by the Campbell Liberal government. Christy Clark was the Minister of Education. While some token nod was made to "meaningful consultation" with classroom teachers in the early days prior to the strip, this courtesy was extended only to elementary teachers and has largely been abandoned as practice in more recent years.

BCW: What's the situation in "regular" classrooms today?

SK: In practice, classroom teachers with "regular" classrooms may have as many as 12 students with Individual Education Plans enrolled (an extreme but not unheard of number). Resource teachers, who once spent many hours per week working one-to-one and with small groups of students with special needs on targeted skill development, now have caseloads as high as 120.

BCW: What is the net result of this retrogression with regard to class composition?

SK: All of this means that the development and implementation of the Individual Education Plan is often reduced to a meaningless parade of paper pushing, with little time for any meaningful interventions targeted to students' individualized needs. But because teachers are the kind of people we are; people who know how to do more with less, whose hearts, souls and minds are focused on children and their needs, who work hundreds of unpaid hours to ensure that their students get what they need, who pay out-of-pocket for hundreds of dollars worth of materials, incentives and extras that the meager school base-level funding cannot even begin to touch (extras which, by the way, are supplied in plenty in privately-funded schools like the one Christy Clark sends her son to), we muddle on and students continue to learn.

By: Neal Resnikoff

from British Columbia--More on the teachers' struggle

June 30, 2014

Vol. 2 No. 12 British Columbia Worker

Broad Support for Teachers'

Defence of Their Rights and Public Education

Fight Together with Teachers for

Rights and Increased Investments in

Social Programs and Public Services!

Nanaimo, June 23, 2014

Broad Support for Teachers' Defence of Their Rights and Public Education

� Fight Together with Teachers for Rights and Increased Investments in Social Programs and Public Services!

� Teachers Take Firm Stand in the Face of Government Intransigence

� The Need for a New Direction in How Government Spends Public Funds

� Recent Actions in Support of Teachers

� Teachers Speak Out

Broad Support for Teachers' Defence of Their Rights and Public Education

Fight Together with Teachers for

Rights and Increased Investments in

Social Programs and Public Services!

The BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) and local teachers' associations throughout the province are calling for support for their efforts to negotiate a collective agreement. On June 19, the union applied for mediation after making no progress in meetings with the government-appointed spokespersons of the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA). Teachers are asking everyone to support the call for mediation by contacting their MLAs and school trustees.

Teachers report solid support from parents, kids and their communities. Every attempt of Education Minister Fassbender and the government-appointed spokespersons of the BCPSEA to characterize the teachers' demands as unreasonable have deepened everyone's conviction that the BC Liberals are a party unfit to govern. It has been cutting and continues to cut funding to public education, vilifies the teachers and education support workers who provide that education, and continues to defy the courts.

Every effort of the teachers' union to compromise and get the government to negotiate has been wrecked on the rocks of the government's refusal to discuss the central issue of class size and composition and everyone has watched this unfold and is drawing their own conclusions.

The BCTF has confirmed that teachers will picket summer school if no settlement is reached by June 30. Several school districts have delayed the start of summer school in hopes of a negotiated settlement. The more pressure people put on local school boards and MLAs the better the chance of a negotiated settlement. People's actions to defend the rights of teachers and public education increase the pressure on the government to negotiate a settlement with the BCTF acceptable to teachers and the public interest.

BC Worker fully supports BC teachers in their fight to defend their rights and public education. In drawing a line against the Liberal government intransigence and fraudulent austerity agenda, teachers are doing the public a great service.

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Teachers Take Firm Stand in the Face of

Government Intransigence

Following another round of fruitless meetings with government representatives on June 19, the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) requested mediation and specifically requested the assistance of Vince Ready, a well known mediator and arbitrator. Late in the day, the government agreed to request Ready's assistance. By late Sunday, June 22, Ready responded that he was unable to take on the mediation. The BCTF said that they were committed to the goal of mediation and would look for another person from the pool of experienced mediators in the province to assist in achieving a negotiated settlement.

In requesting the intervention of a professional mediator, the BCTF did not back down from its insistence that government increase funding for education, specifically to address the problems of class size and composition. Over the past 12 years, hundreds of teachers have lost their jobs including many librarians and specialist teachers. Within the last two months, there have been announcements throughout the province of school districts laying off dozens of teachers, not because enrollment is down but to balance their budgets. The Vancouver School board avoided shutting down music programs and laying off teachers only by depleting their contingency fund. Continued government underfunding of public education has created a deepening crisis.

Government's Fraudulent Austerity Agenda

Responding to the lack of public support for government intransigence, Minister of Education Peter Fassbender and government-appointed Chief Negotiator Peter Cameron introduced some new language to its offer meant to turn public opinion against the teachers. In the style of the big lie, Fassbender and Cameron assert some sort of unassailable austerity mandate of the Liberal government as if no one but the teachers have a problem with this neo-liberal anti-social offensive.

Cameron agreed to the request to take the dispute to mediation from this arrogant point of view, saying, "It may be that [a mediator] is able to convince the union about where the settlement zone has to be."

Fassbender also showed the government's arrogance, saying, "The affordability zone is clearly indicated by all of the other representatives of public sectors that are there. And you can clearly see the BCTF is in a zone of their own. That's not affordable. It's not realistic....The BCTF wants to stay in their own orbit. They don't want to recognize the realities of our economy, of the needs of taxpayers. And their compensation demands are twice what the other unions have settled for."

Fassbender expressed frustration that teachers do not accept the government's mandate for austerity. He said that the problem with negotiating with the teachers, as opposed to the other public sector unions, is that "the other party has to be closer to what is realistic and affordable."

According to the intransigent government, the teachers are out of step with the "settlement zone," the "affordability zone," "in their own orbit" etc., as if everyone is in agreement with the fraudulent austerity mandate of the Christy Clark government to impose contracts on public sector workers that are not in the public interest, and weaken the defence of public sector workers against privatization and the decrease in funding for social programs and public services.

The overwhelming public support for BC teachers is "unprecedented" in the words of retired teachers who are walking the picket lines, because public education is in crisis as a result of the refusal of government to invest in public education. The teachers' strike has brought the crisis in public education to the fore.

The Public Opposes Privatization

The public sees the privatization of public services such as education and how this is an attack on the rights of all to modern quality public services, denies the people the right to set public policy, and drives down the standard of living of workers.

In Greater Vancouver, privatization of garbage pickup has sabotaged efforts at recycling, as the private U.S. monopolies are sending much of Vancouver's garbage by train to a massive landfill in Washington because it is "cheaper." Public sector workers and their allies in the community are not happy with privatization or the imposed "settlement zone" of the austerity agenda and demand increased investments in social programs and public services, and a halt to attacks on public sector workers and the sell-off of public assets.

Stand with Teachers

Teachers have rejected the phony austerity arguments of the Clark government in favour of strengthening public education through increased funding, which would permit the hiring of more teachers and education assistants, appropriate class sizes and compensation for teachers that reflects the important work they do. It is to their great credit that in the face of government dictate and intransigence teachers have said enough, and in an effort to reach a negotiated settlement have adjusted their wage demands but have not wavered on the need for improvements in class size and compensation so as to defend and strengthen public education.

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The Need for a New Direction in How Government

Spends Public Funds

The BC government adamantly refuses to increase funding for public education. At the same time, the government sings the praises of increased spending for material infrastructure projects on behalf of the private resource monopolies.

The demands of the BC Teachers' Federation include a $225 million annual workload fund to address issues of class size, class composition, and staffing ratios, and a $225 million retroactive grievances fund. These would be implemented over the life of a five-year collective agreement, as a resolution to Justice Griffin's BC Supreme Court decision that retroactively restored the stripped language from the 2002 agreement. The wage demand of eight per cent over five years is below the projected cost of living increase. These amounts for teachers and public education pale in comparison with increased government spending for material infrastructure.

The BC government's budget for 2014/15 shows its scorn for increased spending on public education. Annual spending on education from 2014 to 2017 goes from $5,387 million to only $5,391 million, which means a decrease when the cost of living and other factors are considered.

School districts face a similar fate with the "Service delivery agency expense" going from $5,667 million in 2014 to only $5,682 million in 2017.

The budget makes this point emphatically saying, "The fiscal plan assumes no additional funding for the teachers' contract pending the outcome of the appeal regarding the recent BC Supreme Court decision."

Compare this disdain for public education with the unbridled enthusiasm for increased spending on material infrastructure on behalf of the mainly foreign energy monopolies, which in addition is public money that the giant construction companies such as Bechtel and SNC Lavalin use to strengthen their private empires.

The government's Pacific Gateway Transportation Strategy 2012-2020 knows no restraint in throwing figures around for its projects: "At least $25 billion in total investment will be required by 2020, beyond the $22 billion previously committed."

This includes "$3.1 billion to increase major road and rail capacity.... $18 billion to support the previously announced BC Jobs Plan goal of three Liquefied Natural Gas plants, and at least $222 million to increase access to natural resources in rural areas. Expand coal terminal capacity in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.... to accommodate up to 93 million tonnes of coal a year by 2020.... Increase access to (shale) gas reserves through $222 million continued investment in the Oil and Gas Rural Road Improvement Project and the Sierra Yoyo Desan Road" plus hundreds of millions more from BC Hydro to build electrical supply and delivery for these projects.

This increased spending on material infrastructure to support private monopoly interests is accompanied with a lowering of government claims on the value workers produce within the private sector, such as a lower corporate income tax and other measures to "Ensure An Attractive Investment Climate," according to the government.

The government insists its attacks on teachers and public education will not harm the ability of the monopolies from acquiring skilled and educated workers, as they can be readily imported from other provinces and countries using schemes such as the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. In this way, the price of production of social infrastructure can be partly transferred to other countries and provinces, while private industry can continue to refuse to pay for (realize) the social infrastructure it requires from BC, which produces educated, skilled and healthy workers. Meanwhile, the global resource monopolies receive almost free the material infrastructure necessary for their resource projects. This arrangement is not sustainable.

No matter how one feels about the merits of private development of shale gas, LNG, coal or other mining projects, transferring public funds away from public education to build material infrastructure for the global monopolies or using those expenditures to deny increased investments in social programs is wrong and retrogressive and should be denounced.

BC needs a new pro-social direction. The way government spends public funds must change. One way to generate momentum towards the new is to stand with BC teachers in the defence of their rights and public education.

Stop Paying the Rich!

Fight Aalongside Teachers for Their Rights and

Increased Investments in Social Programs and Public Services!

(Photos: BC Fed, S. Angel, A. Bowman)

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Recent Actions in Support of BC Teachers

Rally for Public Education in Prince George

Hundreds gathered in Prince George on June 25, at a rally organized by the Prince George and District Teachers' Association and the North Central Labour Council. Those who attended included members of the BC Government and Service Workers' Union, The Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Unifor, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and other unions. Speeches were delivered by BCTF President Jim Iker, BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair, NDP Education Critic Rob Fleming, and Janet Bigelow, President of the CUPE local representing inside workers for the city of Prince George.

Vigorous March and Rally in Comox Valley

The Comox Valley District Teachers' Association organized a lively march and rally on June 27 as a celebration for striking teachers to replace the traditional "last day of classes" celebrations that would normally take place in schools and classrooms. Instead of picketing individual schools, dozens of teachers picketed the school board office in Courtenay then proceeded through the downtown to the Fifth Street Bridge, a busy spot. Teachers, parents and kids lined the approaches to the bridge with their signs, waving to passing cars and receiving raised fists, waves and honking in response.

Courtenay, June 27, 2014

Other Recent Actions

Nanaimo, June 24, 2014

Victoria, June 26, 2014

Abbotsford, June 28, 2014

Vancouver, June 27, 2014

Vancouver, June 28, 2014

Teachers rally outside of Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, June 20, 2014.

(Photos: BC Fed, BCTF, K. Doherty, J. Braidwood, S. Ellen, T. Steeves, N. Knickerbocker)

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Teachers Speak Out

Teachers from three areas of the province were interviewed by Charles Boylan the host of Vancouver Co-Op Radio's Discussion on June 18 and June 25.

Kim Meyer, President, Kitimat Teachers' Association

Kim Meyer, President of the Kitimat Teachers' Association, explained that one of the specific concerns in her district is what may happen to the alternate school, Kitimat City High (KCH). Teachers and parents worry that the school board will try to move KCH into the Mount Elizabeth High School, which already houses two separate schools in one building.

She said, "That is due to lack of funding and it's causing some problems for a lot of students who attend that school. We don't believe that they will graduate and if that school is closed and the program gets moved into Mount Elizabeth it will be a very quick end for Kitimat City High. There are some special needs kids that are attending KCH and because they require a more one-on-one program with one teacher and they receive a lot more individual instruction at KCH than is available at the regular high school."

In terms of public support, she said, "At the last school board meeting there was a parent who presented with regard to KCH and she read some incredibly powerful letters from previous superintendents in our district, from parents whose children have graduated and, like you said, it would not have happened if not for KCH."

Jennifer Wadge, President, Surrey School Teachers' Association

Jennifer Wadge, President of the Surrey School Teachers' Association debunked the government argument that there is no money for education. She said, "It absolutely is a matter of priorities. We know from the BC Supreme Court decision that teachers got regarding the illegal and unconstitutional stripping of our class size and composition and staffing ratio language that the reason the government made the choice in 2002 to strip that language was because they needed to find a way to pay for tax reductions for corporations and the wealthy. They absolutely made a choice at that time and put tax reduction for the top one per cent and for corporations as a priority over a quality public education system for the kids in BC and we've seen those choices just continue.

"When teachers were out in 2005 for our illegal two week strike, that strike was also about learning conditions in schools, about class size, about the number of specialist teachers. The government said 'we don't have any money' but they did have billions of dollars for projects around the Olympics and then it just seems like that continues to be the case. The coffers are always bare when teachers are bargaining but there's lots of money for these other projects that government seems to have no problem making the choice to fund so people in BC really need to say enough is enough."

Surrey is the largest school district in BC with more than 5,000 teachers and about 70,000 students at 120 sites. Jennifer explained that the Surrey experience exposes the contention of the government that cuts are justified due to declining enrollment.

She said, "Surrey is a really good example for proving the point that funding has decreased regardless of government's arguments that so has enrollment, because in Surrey enrollment continues to increase and so if that was the case we should see increased funding but we don't. This year the school board has to make $12 million in cuts.. The cuts tend to happen to where the kids who need the support the most.

"It's hard for districts to cut, and especially in large districts like Surrey to cut classroom teachers because they need those teachers in front of the 30 students. They make cuts to places like support for kids who are learning English, cuts to counseling for students who need that support for a wide range of issues, cuts to special education teachers. We end up seeing kids who should be getting daily support from, for example, a special education teacher, instead might see that teacher for 10 or 15 minutes once a week..

"In Surrey we have large populations of immigrant families, refugee families; we're talking about kids who might have never drawn a picture before or even seen a book and those kids need a lot of support, and in a community like Surrey where we do have high levels of poverty and a lot of inner city schools and aboriginal students that need additional support, we should be seeing services increasing. We should never ever be seeing services being cut."

Nick Moore, Vice President, Comox Valley District Teachers' Association

Nick Moore, Vice President of the Comox Valley District Teachers' Association, explained that Comox Valle (School District 71), has more than 500 K to 12 teachers teaching about 8,000 students. This year, the cut is $2.1 million from a $70 million budget, which will result in the loss of about 20 teachers and an unknown number of support staff, he added.

Nick said, "It's hard not to see how the policy decisions of this government are leading us towards a public education system that is not funded well enough to meet the needs of the children. I'm a parent. I have two children in the system right now. If I had to make that choice whether my kid was able to receive the service or not, then it's a choice that parents have to make and that should not have to happen. We should have a strong quality public education system for all and I think it's a policy choice of the government. They've decided that they're not going to put more money into the education system now and they're saying that they have to think of the taxpayers of British Columbia but I would challenge everyone, all the taxpayers of British Columbia to say, 'is this something we want to invest in?'"

He said that teachers are encouraged by the support of parents: "We need to see that because, to be honest, I don't know that teachers have the power to make this change. It's the parents that are going to have to see what's happening, to understand what's happening, and they're going to have to stand up and really push the government into doing something that the government doesn't want to do."

He also made the point that the reality of teachers' working conditions and students' learning conditions is becoming better known saying, "I think for the first time in a long time, especially with the power of social media, teachers are starting to tell their stories. We've made do, we've done the best we can with what's been available to us and as funny as it sounds, we're not complainers. We sit there and we do our work. I am so proud to see teachers telling their stories right now. We're having teachers write letters in droves to our local papers, to the MLAs, to the school trustees and I'm lucky enough, they send them to me because I am the vice president of the union. So I get to read them too. That's what makes a difference, when we see what's really happening and we see the emotion involved and that's what brings us together because we know we're doing something right."

To listen to the full interviews go to http://coopradio.org/station/archives/35

By: Neal Resnikoff

mid-July 2014 British Columbia teachers' strike update

Stand with BC Teachers in Defence of Their Rights and Public Education

Denounce the Clark Government's Medieval Attack

on Public Education

The BC Liberal government came to power with a majority in 2013 by means of an electoral coup. With her majority, Clark claims her government has a royal mandate to implement anti-social programs across the board. Every government Minister has been tasked with cutting services and taking other actions to meet the "balanced budget."

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In the style of a medieval queen, Clark issued "mandate letters" on June 10, to each of the Ministers of her Cabinet. The letters praise the ministers for their achievements in the past year towards fulfilling their particular assignments. Each letter boasts of the Liberal line over the past year:

- The successful delivery of the first balanced budget since the global economic downturn of 2008 which was followed by the introduction of a second balanced budget in February;

- Continued progress to secure a new LNG industry in British Columbia;

- The development and release of BC's Skills for Jobs Blueprint;

- Successfully concluded long-term and affordable labour agreements with our valued public servants.

Each letter goes on to list the "achievements" of the Ministers and outlines their specific mandate for the coming year. In the case of the Minister of Education, Peter Fassbender, the first three of 10 assignments are the following:

- Balance your ministerial budget in order to control spending and ensure an overall balanced budget for the province of British Columbia.

- Successfully achieve a new collective agreement with the BCTF that will lead to ten years of educational stability.

- Once a new collective agreement has been completed, present options to Cabinet on ways to restructure collective bargaining with the BC Teachers' Federation.

Significantly, weeks before the June 10 mandate letter from Christy Clark to the Education Minister, the dictate for a ten-year contract or "ten years of educational stability" was taken off the table and reduced to five years. The BCTF achieved that partial victory due to its members fighting to defend their rights and public education.

Clark's mandate letters to the Ministers make it clear that the Liberal government is determined to privatize education and leave public education starved of funds and most students and their parents fending for themselves in their striving for a modern education. Clark asserts, "The only way to secure long-lasting prosperity is to ensure that private sector investments are welcomed and encouraged in our province. That is the path we have chosen and that is the path upon which we will continue for the remainder of our term."

Clark's mandate is reminiscent of a royal proclamation. It is profoundly undemocratic, backward and anti-social, plunging BC into retrogression. It should be denounced as contrary to the needs of a modern society and insulting to the rights of all.

Teachers, students and society need increased investments in public education and other social programs and public services.

Education is a right that can only be fulfilled through public education with the broad participation and control of teachers in all aspects of the sector.

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BC Teachers Strike Continues -- Demand

Increased Investments in Public Education!

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Rally in Vancouver for public education, June 19, 2014

The school year has ended with BC teachers still on strike. On July 2, the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) and the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) issued a joint statement, which reads, "The BCPSEA and the BCTF agreed that Mr. Justice Stephen Kelleher would be an acceptable mediator. He had some exploratory discussions with the parties and determined that mediation is not indicated at this time. The parties appreciate the Supreme Court making him available."

Since mid June, the BCTF has been requesting the intervention of a mediator to assist in achieving a negotiated agreement. Successful mediation is based on both parties agreeing to compromise. The BCTF requested mediation and the BCPSEA agreed. The first mediator agreed to was Vince Ready who declined.

An explanation for Justice Kelleher's conclusion that "mediation is not indicated at this time" is found in the statements issued also on July 2 by Education Minister Peter Fassbender and BCTF President Jim Iker. It is noteworthy that no statement was issued by BCPSEA and there has not been a bargaining bulletin issued by BCPSEA since mid 2012. Its role has been completely taken over by the Minister and his hand-picked minions. No climate for mediation exists because the government refuses to participate based on the established norms.

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Minister Fassbender says, "It was recognized that if the parties were in the same zone, mediation might help land a settlement. Unfortunately, through these exploratory discussions it became explicitly clear that the BCTF executive would not commit to tabling a set of demands that fall in the same affordability zone as the other public sector agreements reached to date."

Having pointed out that other public sector unions have settled, Fassbender repeats that no conditions for mediation will arise as long as BCTF refuses to submit a proposal that meets the government's definition of "affordability." He says, "BCPSEA stands ready to negotiate anytime over the summer, with or without a mediator, whenever the BCTF is ready to commit for a fair and affordable settlement. Let's hope that the BCTF executive does not take all summer to realize that the best possible deal for teachers is one that lands squarely in the same affordable zone as the settlements government has already reached with the other public sector unions."

BCTF President Jim Iker in his July 2 statement explained the government's stonewalling: "The government, by trying to impose a series of unworkable preconditions prior to entering into mediation, has not provided the flexibility required to make mediation work. The preconditions would have predetermined the outcome .... At this point, with the government maintaining entrenched positions that are unfair and unreasonable, mediation will not be able to move forward. We will keep the lines of communication open in July to restart bargaining if the government is ready to make a real effort and bring the necessary funding to the table. If not, BC teachers will try again in August, with the new school year looming, to reengage Justice Kelleher and the government in meaningful and fair mediation."

Of course, mediation cannot work when the party with the power to grant or withhold funds for education and the power to legislate considers that it has the right to set preconditions for its participation. Fassbender says the teachers must publicly agree to the government dictate before talks and mediation can proceed. The dictate is two-fold: first, the teachers must bow down before the government "mandate" of a five-year contract with a total 5.5 per cent wage increase, which is a de facto wage decrease, and secondly, the fundamental demand of the teachers for the government to comply with two court rulings restoring class size and composition language removed from the collective agreement in 2002 is not on the table and will not be discussed.

The Clark government is bent on destroying public education and collective bargaining. This must not pass.

http://www.cpcml.ca/BCW2014/BC0213.HTM#1