Now I now some parents are mad at the current situation with the teachers dispute. Now many families today have to have both parents working just to be able to pay the bills,and put a little away in savings,and I feel for you it is a struggle. This should show you that wages don't keep up with the cost of living.
But this dispute is not so much about wages teachers want,as it is the quality of your child's education. How many times have both sides went to the bargaining table,only to have it fail because of an inflexible BC government attitude? When all was said and done, the teachers were willing to settle for a one percent increase in wages,but they wanted more teachers assistants,and special ed teachers to help the children with special needs. These children are not bad kids,they just have certain problems with learning. This takes away from the teachers time for other students,they take up more teacher time per student than an average student.
Now I will admit this probably doesn't hurt the gifted child,but I must say it does hurt the average to below average student. The teacher goes to university to learn how to teach to the average or above,they are not schooled in the what it takes to reach that low percentage of students with special needs as much as the ladder group. That is why they have courses for special ed teachers,and teachers aids.
Why offer the courses if there is no hope for employment? Just think if a government is willing to pay forty dollars a day per child to keep a child out of school, how concerned are they about your child's education? The government puts their spin doctors on the problem to make you hate teachers, maybe we as parents and concerned citizens should stand up and help the teachers give the best quality education for our children.
Ms. Clark, stop your schoolyard bully approach to this situation and bargain in good faith.
Brian Michel
Prince George
