Students at public schools across the province won't be in class today because of the teachers' strike.
And because there is a professional development day planned for Friday, Thursday is the only day this week when classes will be in session.
School buses provided by Diversified Transport will not be operating today and Tuesday. The school district will decide if that cancellation will also apply to Wednesday, the third day of the planned walkout.
The B.C. Teachers' Federation met throughout the weekend to develop its strategy beyond this week's strike. The government plans to appoint an independent mediator to try to draw the two sides together and produce a new collective agreement over the next six months. Failing that, the government will impose its legislated contract, which provides for no wage increases under a net-zero mandate.
The BCTF says the new legislation will force teachers to give up their ability to bargain on class size and class composition. Teachers say it will also strip them of their ability to decide on their own teaching methods, take away their right to make choices on professional development, and will eliminate clauses that protect job seniority.
Hundreds of students from the city's five secondary schools skipped classes Friday afternoon to take part in an organized protest to show their support for teachers. That gave students a chance to voice their concerns over the breakdown in negotiations between teachers and the province, six months after teachers started their job action, which last week led to the introduction of legislation to force a settlement.
Prince George District Teachers Association president Matt Pearce was impressed with the students and how they conducted themselves while joining the student walkout, a Facebook initiative that started in Vancouver and spread province-wide over social networks.
"The students understand the conditions inside the classrooms a lot more than the general public does and even the parents do, because they are living it and they understand what's missing," said Pearce.
