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Back to school matters

Back to school time is always hectic. There's stress over which classes kids are in, who their teachers are, how their social interactions go and, of course, making that daily lunch! This year there is the added stress of teacher action.

Back to school time is always hectic.

There's stress over which classes kids are in, who their teachers are, how their social interactions go and, of course, making that daily lunch!

This year there is the added stress of teacher action. For weeks leading up to school starting most parents weren't sure if classes would begin. Yes, there was a press release posted on the school district's website explaining that the only expected impact would be teachers withdrawing services not related to actually teaching.

But until the kids were sitting at their desks most parents weren't convinced that school would start.

I accept that a teacher's role is to teach, but my long, informative, and passionate involvement with our schools here has proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that teachers do much more than teach and all of it invites the education of our children.

And they care, they really do.

What messages do our kids get when teachers are there to joke with them and serve up cake at the back-to-school barbecues; when they spend their afternoons and evenings helping to coach cross country, or basketball; when they lead after school programs to improve academic learning?

To me the message is clear: teachers are part of our community and the majority is committed to what they do. It is not just about what happens in the classrooms.

Many are raising or have raised their own kids in the corridor.

So then they must have been shaking their heads when they heard the edict from their union, the B.C. Teachers' Federation, that they were not to help fundraise for the local school-based annual Terry Fox Run.

Really? That is a public relation nightmare of a directive. Here we are celebrating the 30 th anniversary of one of Canada's greatest heroes and the message from the BCTF is teachers can't help, as they always do, collect the fundraising that kids do to help fight cancer through the run.

Along with this comes a notice home to Whistler high school parents that the back-to-school barbecue at that school was cancelled due to the job action.

Parent-teacher meetings are already on the shelf and parents face not getting report cards in November if job action continues, so to learn that the barbecue was off was really disappointing.

I'm left wondering if the statements made by BCTF representatives that education won't be affected by the job action will remain true. If parents can't find out how their kids are doing how can they deal with kids who are struggling.

I'm staying positive on that note though as emails I've sent to teachers so far have come right back with the information I need. And teachers continue to coach.

As a reporter I have covered strikes by teachers over the years. And each time I have been struck by the completely dysfunctional relationship that exists between the government, represented by the B.C. Public Schools' Employers' Association (BCPSEA) and the BCTF.

Why, I wonder, did no discussions take place over the summer between the BCPSEA and the BCTF? Surely they should have been doing everything possible to avert job action.

CP quoted BCTF president Susan Lambert as saying, "Well, you have to have a bit of summer holiday."

The rhetoric from both is always that that they are doing their best for the education of B.C.'s kids.

The positions of both sides do have some merit. The government is determined to keep to a zero wage increase for teachers - unless they give up something that will free up money for the increase. It doesn't want to commit to anything that costs money, pointing to the fact that other public service employees' wages are also frozen.

On the other hand the BCTF states on its website that "salaries for B.C. teachers rank eighth in Canada, while cost of living in this province is among the highest in the country. Teaching requires five years of university training and new teachers on average spend three to five years working as teachers on call, at an average annual salary of less than $15,000.

"Teachers are not paid commensurate with work in the private sector requiring the same level of certification."

The BCTF won't actually say what salary increase it is looking for but the BCPSEA claims the teachers' union demands for an improved benefits package will cost $2 billion, and with B.C. teachers wanting parity with teachers in Alberta and Ontario that could cost an additional 20 per cent in wages.

In June 2006, teachers accepted a five-year contract that included wage and benefit increases that amounted to about 16 per cent and bonuses worth up to $4,700 each. Wage increases were 2.5 per cent.

The income of average B.C. families has grown by only 0.8 per cent, on average, over the past four years.

The BCTF is also looking for other benefits that leave most of us shaking our heads - though it appears these are the starting positions.

•26 weeks (half year) paid leave to care for someone (being a family member is not a requirement)

• a year's pay as a "bonus" for retiring veteran teachers

• two weeks paid leave upon the death of any friend

• five paid days per year for professional activities

• two sick days a month that can be saved up

One of the BCTF's most important goals remains getting class size and composition back under its control. A B.C. Supreme Court ruling found that the Liberals violated teachers' rights in 2002 when they stripped the union contract of clauses allowing it to bargain class size and composition. The BCTF says the ruling requires government to restore the union's full bargaining and provide redress. The government believes the judge found only that it did not consult adequately before introducing the change and says it is now doing so. The judge will provide clarification on the issue in early October.

Meanwhile parents are still concerned about the education their kids are getting and how the job action will affect that -and they are still packing lunches everyday.

There can be no denying that a good education is worth every penny spent on it- though it must be wisely done.

Perhaps the government could take some of the $3.9 million spent on bonuses to BC Ferries executives and re-direct it to something that really matters, like education.

An especially appealing idea considering the BC Ferries 2009-2010 fiscal year end reports net earnings were $3.4 million.