When we send our children off to school each morning we feel assured they are not only getting a quality education, but they will be treated appropriately by those in charge.
We are also told through TV ads and when negotiations are ongoing that our educators are professional and competent and should be paid more because they hold the future of our children in their hands.
The governing body for all teachers in B.C., the British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) boldly states it "sets and enforces standards for professional educators, assesses applicants to the profession, and issues teaching certificates, and are proud of [their] professional members and enjoy working with them to advance the education profession in B.C. for the benefit of all learners," and it "admits only those persons who have met standards of qualification and fitness and are of good moral character."
Yet when you read a story like the one that appeared in the Vancouver Sun recently, it makes you wonder what the hell the BCCT has been smoking.
The opening paragraph of the story says it all.
"Scores of educators who were investigated and disciplined by their employers for misconduct - including inappropriate relationships with students, violence, threats and theft - remain members in good standing with the B.C. College of Teachers."
Through a freedom of information (FOI) request, the Vancouver Sun received documents showing 32 pages of misconduct by educators in B.C.
Some of the cases were so bad they resulted in dismissals, however the BCCT "took no action or simply sent letters to the member seeking assurance that such conduct would not be repeated," the Sun story stated.
The report does not say who the teachers were or at what school they were teaching, but some of the cases sound like the rap sheet of a career criminal.
They include: trespassing, public intoxicaiton, and investigation for a series of indecent acts; sexual interference of a person under 14; sexual exploitation; hosting a party at her home for 50 students where alcohol was consumed by students in her presence and some students became intoxicated to the point of vomiting; possession and cultivation of marijuana; criminal charge: communicating for the purpose of obtaining the sexual services of a prostitute; failed to maintain professional boundaries with students by socializing, having discussions of a personal nature, sharing a bed with a student, and hitting students; charged with assault and threats to cause death or bodily harm.
All of the above resulted in an informal resolution or no further action by the BCCT.
Why has the BCCT not taken away their licence to teach in the province and notified every other province and territory in the country?
According to the Sun story, because cases resulted in an informal resolution or no further action by the BCCT, the discipline records of these people remain clean, meaning, if they apply for a job in another school district the administrators are unaware of any problems.
There were three cases where people had received teaching certificates even though one was convicted of sexual assault, another of drug trafficking and a third of forging documents in an earlier legal career.
Would you want your son or daughter to have their education advanced by a drug trafficker or someone who has been convicted of sexual assault?
The BCCT seems to think you should.
These are also people who have "met standards of qualification and fitness and are of good moral character," to be accepted as members of the BCCT.
It is an absolute disgrace that an organization like this would allow the people mentioned in this report to hold a licence to teach in this or any other province.
It is also a slap in the face to the teachers that do work hard and do follow the rules.
An independent investigation ordered by the B.C. government in 2009 and headed by Victoria lawyer Don Avison "concluded that the college, created in 1987, lacks credibility and requires government intervention."
He is right.
Some teachers love their job so much they tout their membership in the BCCT as if it were a religious affiliation, but we have seen what happens to religious orders when it shelters some of its members from discipline for their offences.
-- Prince George Citizen
