The half page BC government ads titled Funding For Students, Not For Wage Hikes leave me wanting to throw up. They are inaccurate and misleading propaganda of the worst sort. This is not how our tax dollars should be spent.
To pick one specific point: the ad says, "The union says that teachers who perform poorly in evaluations will be dismissed - 'one strike and you're out.'" The so-called fact says, "The government wants to support teacher improvement through a standardized evaluation process."
I know that the BCTF has a teacher mentorship program for those needing to improve skills. I know that SD 57 has an entire booklet on the process of teacher evaluation. If a teacher is not competent, the process allows and encourages time to improve and mentorship before dismissal.
The other points are equally misleading. Most enraging is the last one, responding to the cut of 700 special needs teachers. Apparently 2,100 new teaching assistants have been hired since 2001. So it is just fine to replace qualified specialist teachers with teaching aids? A good teacher aid is an angel in the classroom, but the qualifying word is aid, which means working under the direction of a teacher. The last I heard, most actual special needs teachers are spending more time doing grant applications and writing individual programs than teaching. Where does that leave the kids?
It is obvious that democracy is just a word in this government. Having read many treatises on the effects of the Chicago School of Economics doctrine (scary stuff that our government is inflicting on us) put into practice, I would like to reiterate that: everyone I have spoken with wants to have a quality public education system with equal access for all. Ditto for health care. Ditto for dealing with child poverty and homelessness. Government in our country is supposed to be led by the needs and wishes of the populace. Somehow I'm not seeing that happening.
EJ Eakin
Prince George
