It will be interesting to see how the resident right wing supporters of the Liberal government will spin this to blame the union.

Interesting. When I asked the board members why SD57 employees were emailing out BCPSEA propaganda to parents, I got no response.

The end result of the continuing high cost of Education will be electronic schooling with very few teachers.

As costs rise, other ways are found to provide the same service. We need only look at the car manufacturing, railway, retail, and other industries to see, that getting computers to do the work, is a lot easier than one would think.

As an example we could have teachers from K-6, and after that students would access information by computer (perhaps in rooms overseen by monitors) they would register in and out each day, and their work would go to a central office for further analysis.

We already do this for some University Courses from remote areas.

So, like many other things, teachers as we understand them, may very well become things of the past.

The Borg empire.

Palopu

Something like this is already taking place, saw a piece on 60 Minutes a while ago.

It turned the traditional forms of school work/homework completely around. No more having the teacher stand at the front of the class and simply read the lesson and maybe put and example or two on the blackboard before sending the kids on their way to complete the homework never knowing if the concepts taught even cracked the surface.

Instead the “school work” would be done at home with the student reading the lesson and study the examples of the concept in the textbook. The “homework” would be done in class the following day on a computer linked to the teacher’s computer. With a simple mouse click each students progress could be monitored in real time. Those who “got it” would breeze through leaving the teacher free to focus on those who are struggling. If there is an area that no one gets then it is time to get out the chalk.

To me this way of teaching is the way to go for maths and sciences.

An educational system like that would have a serious drawback, I would have thought. A large part of the benefit in physically going to a school to learn is the association and interaction with other students, which is of benefit for character development. Computer learning with the student at home would make this far more difficult.

Where have you been hiding for the last ten years ammonra, today 95% of all social interaction between school aged kids involves a 4.7 inch screen 6 or 8 inches from their nose;)

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/22/948224/-Are-you-sick-of-highly-paid-teachers

Maybe teachers should start to do this since there is always a shortage in daycares.

No wonder the industry of Private school is growing.

Would you pay additional $4,000 a kid per year to ensure that he/she gets the best education possible. Qualification is not money based, but based on the kid being able to keep up with the class. Thus making the best students better than the system can produce.

Grade 3,4,5. Too start with. Than grade 10,11 and 12. Thus, the first parts gets them to be absorbers of information the last part makes them the leaders of tomorrow.

Lonesome Sparrow, I am a grandfather with five grandchildren and I assure you that not all children, nor the majority, spend all their time in front of an iPod screen. They use them, yes, but they also play in the playgrounds, hike and fish with their dads, shop with their mums and have playdate after playdate after playdate, and they interact in the schoolroom with their friends and the teachers.

He Spoke, of course money is a qualification for private schools. Simply, if you can’t afford to pay the fees your child can’t go. That’s what makes it elitist. It is the primary qualification, barring a very few scholarships. After the parents can afford to make the payments, then the selection is for ability. Let me point out that if the very best student has parents who can’t pay nor provide the uniforms etc, then the very best student will not go to a private school. Fortunately, such a student will excel in a public school and may well be a leader of tomorrow.

Teachers should have criminal charges placed against them for what they are doing.
In a nut shell they are holding our kids ransom to get what they figure they deserve. Cancelling field trips, unable to grade our graduates? Not to mention all the money parents have dolled out for field trip supplies 4 days before the field trip ” which they cancelled”, my child extra expenses for the trip totaled over $250.00. Are any of the teacher going to step forward and reimburse me for that?
Way to get what you want, why not fall down on the streets on your backs and whale like babies!!
Every year same BS.

It’s been frustrating listening to both sides of the teachers dispute. On the one hand you have the BCTF (Teachers) with their Utopian wish list of demands for more resources, smaller class sizes etc etc etc..plus a pretty hefty increase in compensation when compared to every other public service union in the province. However you never see the BCTF acknowledge what the costs of their wishlist / demands would be for you and I the tax payer. On the other hand you have a government that seems to be ideologically opposed to even considering the BCTF position. They spout generalities about the BCTF position and how costly it would be, but again they seem either not prepared or not willing to give us the tax payer the true costs.
It is obvious that the relationship between governments (plural since BCTF has not reached a negotiated settlement with any government since the Socred days)and the BCTF is so poisoned that they will never ever reach an agreement.
There is might be a solution, and this might be simplistic in nature, but why not let Tax Payer decide?
Have both sides come up with their absolute best proposal, have both proposals costed out by an independent 3rd party, and have the tax implications for each proposal clearly communicated to the tax payer. Once these are in place hold a referendum, with a clear choice of proposal A or B, and let the tax payer decide how much more we want to pay in taxes to support the education system. Then we will know exactly what kind of education we the tax paying public are willing to support with our hard earned money

@ammonra: Private schools are not ‘elitist’, despite what the resident lefties like to portray. I know plenty of people who send their kids to private school and they are not rich by any means. They just make different choices in lifestyle and have different priorities.

I’ve seen a lot of media pictures with children with signs supporting their teacher’s plights. How come and when will we see their parents and/or guardians or babysitters/nannies pick up a sign portraying poor teachers?

Mavrick64:
Teachers should have criminal charges placed against them for what they are doing.
Give your head a shake Maverick64. Didn’t you read the judge’s comments about the Liberals trying to provoke a strike and losing a court ruling even on appeal ?
Your approach is like a hockey fan: you support your team no matter what they do.

JohnnyBelt, it is not whether the parents are rich or not which makes private education elitist, it is the fact that it is restricted to those who can afford it. It will cease to be elitist when a single mother earning minimum wage can afford to send her children there. In her case, of course, the priority is making sure her children have enough to eat and wearable clothes, although I don’t know that being abandoned by a husband is one of the “choices in lifestyle” single mothers make.

Karman sounds like you need a hug? Let start a new teacher stat holiday! Hug a teacher day! I am sorry but when the “TEACHERS” start using the kids as ponds in there negotiations for “MORE MONEY” that is when you all lost my support!I have kids that were looking forward to field trips with class mates and the teachers cancel the trips “WHY”? give me another lame excuse.

That’s it $250 the teachers are going to lose a lot more on there cheque then that. Obviously the negative teacher bashing are not union or else they would be sticking up for them, and I am truly sick and tired of people thinking that teachers have such an easy job. For one the teachers have to figure put how 23 kids learn either it’s audio, visual it must be difficult doesn’t matter who you are. Plus do all of you Government lovers really want more wage increase for the politicians or an increase for people who actually does something for the society.

The internet is changing society as we speak, you may have hit the nail on the head “buzzinga”could prove to be a huge cost saver.
Everyone should be careful,look what happened 4 yrs.ago with the USA. Economic crashes happen fast, greed is contagious, were does it end? when we are all making $500,000 a year and owe $1,000,000. on our mortgages. I feel everyone is entitled to equality of life. What raise do you feel a welfare recipient should receive?

ammonra: “It will cease to be elitist when a single mother earning minimum wage can afford to send her children there.”

For that to be the case, the true cost of education would have to be subsidized by the taxpayer. The money always has to come from somewhere.

As I said, I think the public system could work if they disbanded the BCTF and let teachers be hired and paid on their own performance and merit. Good teachers would be paid well, and bad ones… well, they can go find another career.

Who is going to decide on performance and merit? The same administrators who routinely hire based on cronyism and nepotism? Not a great solution either.

“That BCPSEA has ignored the critical co-governance approach to labour relations by by-passing the role and responsibilities of the BCPSEA Representative Council.”

Wow… the BCPSEA is supposed to be negotiating with the BCTF on behalf of the elected School Boards and Trustees and not just the Liberal Government, thus the co-governance approach. So what our School Board, and other School Boards across this province, are asserting is the BCPSEA has been taking its direction from the Liberal Government only and ignoring the duly elected trustees and their school boards. This seems more like a Stephen Harper Conservative style top – down dictatorship power play, than a grass roots from the school districts up democratic approach to representation. Quite literally we must have a Ministry of Education, and Government that is not listening to the interests and needs of our duly elected School Boards in this province.

Is our provincial Liberal government Liberal in name only? It certainly looks like the Conservative style of democracy (dictatorship really) is at work here! Oops… don’t mind me folks… I was just commenting on the news article.

my2cents: “Who is going to decide on performance and merit? The same administrators who routinely hire based on cronyism and nepotism? Not a great solution either.”

Well, the status quo sure hasn’t been working. The BCTF is just in it for its members, no matter how incompetent they might be.

BeingHuman, People#1, Peeps or whatever the heck you are now answering to, your last comment is is even more laughable than the VAST majority of your posts.

Surely you must remember how the Glen Clark Government reached a deal with the BCTF in 1999? The contract was negotiated by the BCTF and 3 Deputy Ministers of the NDP Government, with the BCPSEA being completely left out of the negotiations!

Trustees did not support the proposed contract, saying the class-size limits undermined the managerial powers of school administrators. Of 60 school boards, 56 rejected the contract, but their protest was ignored — until the Liberals came to power.

Wow, Peeps, your beloved NDP Government relied on 3 Deputy Ministers in their efforts to reach a deal with the BCTF. Don’t you think that perhaps the BCPSEA should have been at the table??

Looks like the BCTF was taking it’s direction, or perhaps was giving direction to the NDP!! Either way, both the NDP and the BCTF completely ignored the duly elected trustees and their school boards!!

I’m sure that was Harper fault though, right Peeps, People#1 or BeingHuman! I can’t keep track of what name you are going by now.

Think I’ll just refer to you as “Hypocrite”!! Hey, if the shoe fits!!