I have been out of the labour market for a while so do not know if the salaries being paid to teachers are at the appropriate level, but I do know that teachers and most other workers in the public sector are paid from a salary grid that provides for salary increments with each additional year of experience despite there being no overall increase in the salary levels shown in the grid. There is, of course, a limit to the number of increments allowed - 10 annual steps are shown on the grid for School District 57 available on the Internet. Although a beginning, fully-qualified teacher starts at $42,802 per year only those paid more than $65,000 per year would not have received an annual incremental pay increase averaging about 4.3 per cent. Stories of teachers working for $40,000 per year for the last three years without a pay increase are simply not true.
The Salary Grid also provides for a substantial salary increase for teachers who gain additional qualifications by amassing 30 university credits that might be obtained by taking courses during several of their two-month summer holidays. The change in qualifications moves a teacher into a higher category on the grid that pays on average about 10 per cent higher.
I hope that common sense will prevail and appropriate salaries and working conditions can be provided for teachers who do yeoman service for the public, but more truthful statements and real facts need to be provided by both sides for the public to know the real situation - and probably also for meaningful negotiations to occur.
Harry Gairns
Prince George
