I am a parent and a teacher. Thankfully my children are not yet school age, but it will not be long before they are caught up in the government's destruction of our education system. This is a horrifying thought.
The public needs to understand that this recent offering from the B.C. government to pay parents $40 a day if the provincial teacher's strike is not over by September a slap in the face for all teachers (some of whom are ALSO parents.) The funding should be going towards specialist teachers and open up jobs so the children benefit from the people resources available to teach them. This would end the strike and is the means to gain a settlement. It is obvious the government is not interested in getting the kids back in schools and learning.
If the government can afford to pay every parent of every child in BC until the strike is over, surely they can afford to negotiate a fair deal for teachers and better supports for kids.
Don't be made a fool of by falling for the government's bad faith bargaining tricks. This is just another trick to try and save face. They know they've messed up and are determined to try to make it look like we, the teachers, do not want to get a settlement. This is so far from the truth. Teachers chose to go to university for a minimum of 6 years, because we care and want to be the best educators we can be. We want the kids to enjoy learning. We did not want to be locked out of the school building at lunch, where we were not able to stay and give extra help (tutoring) for free. Teachers do not get paid overtime, and often we spend our own money to provide resources and try to fix the government's mess.
The public needs to stand up with the teachers, for the kids and tell the government enough.
In the end it's all about the kids.
Kelly Smith
Prince George
