On Monday, March 5, Minister of Education George Abbott took questions on CBC radio. I listened to a caller praise his integrity. I wish to show Mr. Abbott far more respect than I believe he has shown me, a teacher, so I won't claim that he doesn't have integrity.
But I'm puzzled. Take three of Mr. Abbott's four responses to callers on Monday's show:
Mr. Abbott insisted that his approach with teachers was not 'heavy handed'. He cited the appointment of a mediator as evidence.
However, Bill 22 would make it illegal for teachers to strike, including limited job action, and impose daily fines: maximum $475 for teachers; minimum $2,500 for union leaders; minimum $1.3 million for the BCTF. I can't imagine Mr. Abbott's 'heavy hand'.
Mr. Abbott admitted his government could better address special needs students but questioned why the BCTF wanted to keep a system (Bill 33), which resulted in 10,000 grievances by teachers. Mr. Abbott, in 2006 teachers believed Bill 33 was a step in the right direction after your government illegally (according to the courts in 2011) removed class composition language. It turned out to be a substantially smaller step when your government failed to properly fund the system. You should have asked, "How many classes did we fund once realizing student needs weren't being met?"
Well Mr. Abbott, of the five classes which I have had to grieve, not a single one.
With Bill 22, I won't even be able to grieve.
Even more alarming was Mr. Abbott's response to a caller who stated that teachers gave up pay increases at the expense of class size limits.
Mr. Abbott insisted that teachers have not taken wage increases of zero; teachers just received 16 per cent over five years for their last contract.
What Mr. Abbott fails to explain, or possibly not understand, is that prior to his party taking office in 2001, teachers bought class size limits in return for zero wage increases. These are the very limits his government has stripped from teachers' contracts.
Mr. Abbott, I don't know if you are manipulating the system or you just don't know the system. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt - this could all be a big
misunderstanding.
However, I believe you have lost sight of your duty; you have spent all of this time waging war against teachers instead of protecting
public education.
Richard Bruce
