Tina Cousins can sympathize with B.C. teachers who reacted in shock to Education Minister George Abbott's statement that he thinks the law that limits the number of special-needs students in a classroom is discriminatory.
Seven years ago, Cousins was the teacher in a classroom of 34 students in Grades 4, 5 and 6, of which 11 were special-needs
students.
"That was my fourth year of teaching [2004-05] and it was very difficult, but I did have a very supportive administrator," said Cousins, first vice-president of the Prince George District Teachers Association.
"In the first five years, a lot of teachers leave the profession and I can see why. If you're not given the support in your classroom and you have those situations, it's
difficult.
"Our school district has done the best they can, but we're at the point now where we're not getting enough help in our classrooms."
The law, introduced in 2005 as Bill 33 by then-Education Minister Shirley Bond at the end of the provincial teachers' strike, limits the number of special-needs students to a maximum of three per classroom and caps the number of students in each Grade 4-12
classroom to a maximum of 30.
Abbott, speaking to a conference of the B.C. School Superintendents' Association Saturday in Vancouver, said he doesn't like it when teachers complain that a class becomes impossible to teach when it includes more than three students with special needs.
But Cousins says Bill 33 is the only tool teachers have to limit the difficulties they face in their classrooms and it's designed to give special-needs
students additional attention.
"The law is not meant to be discriminatory; we're just saying everyone needs to be looked after and supported in our schools," said Cousins. "Bill 33 is our only way of a grievance process."
Cousins says some of the teachers facing difficult classroom composition issues are first-year teachers. She's becoming increasingly concerned teachers are expected to build lesson plans around special-needs students who have designated individualized education plans (IEPs), but are not getting enough staff in the classroom to support them. She said teachers are also expected to deal with "gray area" students who might have behavioural problems who do not meet the IEP criteria, which adds to teachers' stress and limits the amount of material they can cover in each class.
"Hearing the comments from the teachers - 'I'm worried about safety.' 'I only have one set of eyes.' and 'I was in tears when I found out I have to teach this class.' - it's disheartening to say the least," said Cousins.
Cousins was a teacher at two elementary schools that were closed permanently - Haldi Road in 2002 and Meadow in 2003 - and that was followed in 2005 by the teachers' strike.
"That was the worst of times, certainly, and now we're seeing it creeping back to the worst of times with us being in job action and these situations still happening," Cousins said.
"Teachers can only teach so much, and I feel for our new members.
"They have big concerns and it's not fair."
