Support for kids with special needs teachers have a point
Making it so people with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges can move out of institutionalized settings and live in the community?
Allowing seniors with health and mobility issues to stay at home rather than being housed in a hospital or care home?
Integrating kids with special needs into regular classrooms?
These are all good ideas. The individuals in question are happier, government saves money, and everything is hunky-dory. Or at least that is what is supposed to happen.
The reality is often quite different. If people experiencing mental illness are just handed a bottle of pills and pushed out onto the street, as has happened in some jurisdictions in the world, the homeless rate rises and these citizens end up living in appalling conditions. If seniors are left without adequate homecare, their quality of life and health deteriorates. And, if kids with special needs don’t get support, an impossible situation is created in the classroom.
Yes, government leaders may pat themselves on the back, but the whole aim of these programs fails. Proper support is required in all these cases. And it is a key, longstanding issue for BC teachers, parents and students.
Children with special needs include those with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental health / behavioral challenges. These disabilities and challenges can range from mild to severe. Prior to integration several decades ago, many of these children either did not go to school or were placed in special classrooms.
With the advent of integration, individual teachers, as part of an education team that also included an experienced resource teacher, parents, and other support staff, were required to develop an education plan for each child with special needs in the Fall of each school year. Ongoing monitoring, assessment, and adjustment of the plan took place throughout the year.
Implementing the education plan for each child with special needs necessarily meant that more of the teacher’s regular classroom time was taken up. This time could vary significantly as each child was unique with some requiring much more teacher time than others.
In order for the quality of teaching to be maintained for all students, it was both reasonable and necessary for limits to be put on the number of children with special needs in each class, i.e. class composition. It was also necessary to limit class size to ensure there was time available for kids who required extra attention because of the severity of their disability or challenges.
Indeed, the teachers’ collective agreement of that time addressed both class size and class composition, and these were considered ongoing bargaining issues. For example, prior to 2002, the number of students with special needs and Individual Education Plans in a typical classroom was restricted to 2. For each child with special needs, the total number of students in the overall regular class was reduced by 1.
However, all of this changed in 2002, when Christy Clark, who was then Minister of Education, decreed that teachers no longer had the right to bargain over class size or composition. As a result, some classrooms can now have, in some extreme cases, as many as 12 students with special needs and Individual Education Plans. Resource teachers who used to spend many hours one-on-one with individual students, and played an important role in supplementing the work of the regular teacher, could now have a huge caseload with sometimes more than 100 students with special needs.
As a result, teachers have found themselves caught in an impossible situation. If they devote more time focused on Individual Education Plans, overall class time and other students will suffer. If they focus on overall class time, students with special needs will suffer.
This situation has created a huge amount of stress and frustration in the education system for teachers, kids, parents, administrators, and support staff alike. Yet the provincial government stubbornly persists year after year in the claim that, it alone, must determine class size and composition.
Even the BC Supreme Court has weighed in, criticizing the BC government for trying to provoke the teachers into a strike in the previous round of bargaining and ruling that the government was in contempt of collective bargaining and that it was wrong to decree that teachers could no longer bargain class size and composition. But the BC government refuses to accept this.
One thing is clear. All kids must have proper support in the classroom. In order to ensure this, teachers must have the right to negotiate both class size and composition. The BC government must remove the roadblock it has set up, acknowledge this right, and start negotiating in good faith.
Peter Ewart is a columnist and writer. He can be reached at: peter.ewart@shaw.ca. Dawn Hemingway is a writer and university educator. They are both based in Prince George, British Columbia.
Comments
Let’s not make it like the teachers have no support and look after these kids all by themselves, They have teachers aides and youth care workers helping take the load
Unfortunately, since we spend most of our education dollars on teachers wages and their platinum benefit package there is little left for the kids.
Placing special needs kids in regular classrooms is an experiment that has failed. It’s detrimental to everyone in the classroom.
It is also very unfair to those students who are bored stiff with the regular pace and routine of normal classes. I would like to see a more open concept, where after learning the basics, students would be able to proceed with their own special interests to a far greater extent.
This should happen way before the end of twelve years of rote learning.
Well written Peter. Now lets get back to reality by hiring some of the 35,000 teahers who don’t have jobs in BC, knock back class sizes and improve educational outcome.
How do we do that without raising taxes? Simple we reduce teachers wages to match OECD averages.
We spend the same amount of money as the rest of the OECD on primary and secondary education as a percentage of GDP and yet we have huge classes?
Smaller classrooms and smaller salaries.
Still smoking: are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?
Stillsmoking you have no idea what you are talking about do you. Do you really smoke?
An interesting Vancouver Sun article, except for those who blame the teachers’ strike entirely on the BCTF.
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vaughn+Palmer+history+faith+Liberals+dealings+with+teachers/9912106/story.html
Let’s stay on track with the discussion here – it is about how the citizens of this province – maybe your own neighbour’s child or yours – is getting under-serviced because the government has spent 12 years cutting back on the money designated to the children – maybe under the lame pretense of teacher salaries and maybe under the philosophy of downloading the cost for care of its citizens to “the user” a philosophy that harms the average taxpayer FAR MORE than it harms the wealthy.
Posted by: HartoftheMatter on June 24 2014 8:13 AM
Let’s stay on track with the discussion here – it is about how the citizens of this province – maybe your own neighbour’s child or yours – is getting under-serviced because the government has spent 12 years cutting back on the money designated to the children…
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We’d have a lot more money to spend on the kids if we weren’t spending so much on the teachers and their platinum benefits package.
BC Governments dropped the ball on the entire mental health portfolio. The save money by closing facilities for these poor folks to live in then blow all the money saved on cops and courts when they get in trouble from living on the streets. The programs are there to save money not keep you from ever having to spend another dine on them.
Tell you what, if it is actually, really about the kids, then take the wage increase off the table.
That would demonstrate that teachers are indeed concerned more about the kids than themselves. It would also allow more funding to be available for the special needs assistant teachers.
great article- It really nails what teachers are fighting for. If it was only about money this fight would have been finished a long time ago. Money needs to be spent on prevention (kids) not on band-aids(jails). The gov. has choices about where to spend their money- they chose the Olympics, the retractable roof, and they sold our railway which could be creating a lot of extra revenue right now. They’ve been extremely quiet about how much revenue the Olympics brought to our province…maybe there wasn’t any after the costs were all paid…
There fight is about everyone’s rights! What the government is try to do is darn right scary!
http://castlegarsource.com/news/teachers-strike-more-about-bc-governments-contempt-constitution-pay-or-working-conditions-31782#.U6mhN4m9Kc1
You teacher bashers present funeral supporters should read karrmans link, might learn something.
Posted by: karrman on June 24 2014
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vaughn+Palmer+history+faith+Liberals+dealings+with+teachers/9912106/story.html
Pretty much what my link above says too !
Posted by: seamut on June 24 2014 9:10 AM
You teacher bashers present funeral supporters should read karrmans link, might learn something.
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Huh?
another typical “opinion piece” from Peter and as always it’s full of his left wing bias!
I find it amusing that he states:
“Indeed, the teachersâ collective agreement of that time addressed both class size and class composition, and these were considered ongoing bargaining issues. For example, prior to 2002, the number of students with special needs and Individual Education Plans in a typical classroom was restricted to 2. For each child with special needs, the total number of students in the overall regular class was reduced by 1.
However, all of this changed in 2002, when Christy Clark, who was then Minister of Education, decreed that teachers no longer had the right to bargain over class size or composition. As a result, some classrooms can now have, in some extreme cases, as many as 12 students with special needs and Individual Education Plans. Resource teachers who used to spend many hours one-on-one with individual students, and played an important role in supplementing the work of the regular teacher, could now have a huge caseload with sometimes more than 100 students with special needs.”
Come on Peter, for once in your life, let’s be honest here, ok!!
The period of time that Peter talks about was a 3 year window that encompassed the term of the clearly unaffordable sweetheart deal of a contract that the Glen Clark NDP Government gifted to the BCTF!!
So Peter, please grace us with your incredible gift of knowledge. How about letting us know what class size and composition were like before that sweetheart deal? You talk about the Liberal Government stripping the contract in 2002 as if the contract conditions had been in place for years and years and years while ignoring the fact that the items stripped where only there for 3 years as a result of the NDP kissing the BCTF’s butt!!
Clearly Peter, you are just another left wing nut without any concept of affordability and the taxpayer’s ability to pay!!
I’ll be watching for your “opinion piece” about class sizes and composition over the entire history of the BCTF and for that matter, the entire history of BC’s educational system.
Come on Peter, you think that you’re a smart guy! Let’s have the facts, and not the “left wing” facts!!
You could take the wage package off of the table and the government STILL would not accept the deal because the wage increase is NOT the main cost driver in this contract. Long term, if the government were to simply return to the staffing levels of 2001 – back to the level of teachers AND support staff that were in place in 2001 – the Min. of Education would be hiring BACK 1500 teachers. Class sizes would be smaller, EA support would greatly improve, school psychologists would be rehired and able to keep up with the assessment needs of the children.
Trust me, the wage side of the contract dispute is a loss leader – the government is only trying to inflame the public by providing false claims about the cost of wage side. Watch this to see what is wrong with the gov’t’s version …http://youtu.be/bJkx9Yz1p44
Teacher’s wages are totally fair. Don’t forget how long they go to school. If we complain about a teacher’s wage, then we need to complain about dental hygienist’s wage and the insurance companies that pay for the dental benefits. But I digress.
Teachers’ wages are fair but class composition and , possibly size, needs to change. How about all provincialemployees and elected politicians take a slight reduction in pay in order to be able to hire more special education and teacher’s aides?
You know, there have been so many comments for such a long time on this issue, with amost nobody changing their opinion one little bit, that it seems posters are now talking to themselves
Posted by: bornandbred on June 24 2014 10:00 AM
Teachers’ wages are fair but class composition and , possibly size, needs to change.
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Teachers deserve a cost of living increase, that’s only fair and yes, class size and composition need to be fixed. If teachers were to put aside their ridiculous benefit package demands there might be some more money to help out and there would definitely be more public support.
It would be nice if the public could hold all the bad teachers out there accountable for there actions.
I feel there is a lot of good teachers that do deserve a wage increase my problem is the bad teachers.
Common sense, isn’t very common!
Not sure where you get this idea from: “The period of time that Peter talks about was a 3 year window that encompassed the term of the clearly unaffordable sweetheart deal of a contract that the Glen Clark NDP Government gifted to the BCTF!!”
Teachers have ACTUALLY taken seven years of zero increases since 1998 (in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013). The agreement in 1998 specifically chose NOT to take a wage increase in return for the promise of guaranteed improvements in class size and composition language. HART GUY – your “facts” are wrong and amount to just as much right wing propaganda as you accuse Peter of slinging the other way – except his claims can be substantiated.
I don’t understand why people aren’t focusing on the bigger issue – the implications of having a government who unilaterally decides to break contracts outside of negotiating times and then ignores TWO court rulings demanding that they follow the rules of the Constitution.
In societies that follow the rule of law, a contract is a legally binding agreement and needs to be entered into in good faith by both parties.
ammonra you’re so correct, except in my case I started more on the teacher’s side until I saw all their demands from a link Hart Guy provided – and I thought – how can you even think of asking for up to $3,000 in massage therapy.
But I think this has to go to binding arbitration because there never will be a solution. I think Christy is p***off they took her to court and the judge said bad things about her, and she’s in a snit, and wants blood.
BCTF – they’re too ignorant of the real economy to understand there’s limits to what you can ask for. They really seem to think there’s an unlimited supply of cash out there, and they think that what they do is more important than anything else.
Well, the really important people in this town are: farmers, miners, loggers, logging truck drivers, the mill workers, and the transport truckers and railway workers – because they deal with the part of the economy that puts money in all our pockets. And from their point of view, they’d rather see better roads than back massages. Without these people, we don’t have schools, hospitals, – or anything for that matter.
Unlike an industrial labour dispute, where both sides get to hurt each other, i.e. you strike, you don’t get a cheque – but the company doesn’t get any product made either – the combatants feel the pain.
In this case, the teacher’s definitely feel the pain, the kids are definitely getting screwed, and the government has no incentive to settle – hence, binding arbitration.
It is the beginning of the full privatization of all government services in the future. We’ll be sending our kids to schools run by “Globo-Tech”, visit hospitals operated for profit by Health Com Logistics LLC and pay our taxes to Munico Asset Procurement Inc. Then it truly wont make a difference who you vote for because we won’t have anything to do with them. It’ll be based solely on profit and loss. The end of democracy follows and big business finally gets it chance to take all the money for themselves.
Sounds goofy and a little “wing nut”? I used to think so but it’s starting to look like it could happen.
We pay taxes (way too much) and someone who doesn’t give 2 $hits about anyone has the ability to decide where it gets spent. We have given huge tax breaks to business in the hopes that they come to the table and help BC prosper. The only thing that happened is the share prices rise and the fat cats get fatter.
Any of you business lovers out there who want les government, be careful what you wish for. And to all the people who thing teachers pensions are too rich, many businesses in this country gained access to wealth because of investments made by teachers pensions funds making those investments.
2 different laws in this land. 1 for them and 1 for us.
FYI: teacher pensions aren’t part of any of this agreement because they are SELF FUNDED. Tax money is not used to fund those pensions.
As far as massages – it is NOT the massage chair in the mall, but rather as part of physiotherapy. AND it is only a minor pat of the agreement – I’m sure it is a “discardable item” the way that the other side still has minor elements that they are willing to give in on. That’s like chosing not to buy a car because you don’t like the shapre of the shifter knob – DON’T fixate and nit-pick when the fundamental issues are still holding things back.
Hartofthematter; BC Teachers pension is partly self funded, the teachers contribute & the employer (us) contribute. Their pension is one of the best around by the BCTF’s own admission.
Posted by: PGguy1234 on June 24 2014 11:51 AM
It is the beginning of the full privatization of all government services in the future. We’ll be sending our kids to schools run by “Globo-Tech”, visit hospitals operated for profit by Health Com Logistics LLC and pay our taxes to Munico Asset Procurement Inc. Then it truly wont make a difference who you vote for because we won’t have anything to do with them. It’ll be based solely on profit and loss. The end of democracy follows and big business finally gets it chance to take all the money for themselves.
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There is no such thing as “democracy”; it’s just a word tossed around to make you feel that you’re more then just a cog in the system.
Health Care and Education are already run by big business. You know them better as the HEU, BCNU, BCTF, etc.
Hartofthematter – if you look at your T4 slip (assuming you’re a teacher), you’ll see a box 52 called pension adjustment. That’s the portion the employer paid into the pension plan as their contribution. Box 20 was your contribution. You’ll notice the employer’s is about 1.1 X yours, which means the employer is putting in more than you.
That’s why when a teacher says they make $60,000 a year, it’s not quite true. The employer sends about 11% of that amount to the pension plan on top of what you got paid, so you really made $66,000 with pension benefits. And then when we consider that you get about 12 weeks of holidays a year, everyone else 3 on an annualized basis your salary is closer to $80,000 with additional holidays included.
But most people have employer contributions to their pensions, just generally not as generous as yours. I just wish teacher’s were more educated about the reality of their compensation package. I know one teacher who works elsewhere every summer – an opportunity the rest of us 3 week a year holiday people don’t have.
Stop those stupid waste of time Professional development days.
Those could and should be conducted during the summer session when the students are not in class. Teachers are paid an annual salary, so should work for the school board only, all year long.
The only way i can see a need for pro-d days is if we went to a year round school model. I believe that we should have year round school.
The pension rate is
Employee contribution rates are currently set at:
⢠12.50 per cent of your salary up to and including the YMPE
⢠14.00 per cent of your salary above the YMPE
Employer contribution rates are currently set at:
⢠14.63 per cent of your salary up to and including the YMPE
⢠16.13 per cent of your salary above the YMPE
http://www.pensionsbc.ca/portal/page/portal/pen_corp_home/tpp_home_page/tpp_pt_new_member/tpp_pt_nm_information/
Higher than Firefighters, higher than police, higher than University and College Professors. Decrease the pension to that of a college professor and the savings are astronomical.
College Pension rates
Employee contribution rates are currently set at:
â¢9.60 per cent of your salary up to and including the YMPE
â¢10.35 per cent of your salary above the YMPE
Employer contribution rates are currently set at:
â¢9.70 per cent of salary up to and including the YMPE
â¢10.45 per cent of salary above the YMPE
http://www.pensionsbc.ca/portal/page/portal/pen_corp_home/cpp_home_page/cpp_pt_new_member/cpp_pt_nm_information/
Millions could be saved but its not about the money is it? If it was why are there no suggestions to find the money I hear even the CNC daycare managed to save itself from the chopping block, so why can a bunch of overpaid teachers find some cost savings? Say 30,000 teachers at only 45,700 per year, the Employer pension payments are $191,940,000.00 per year. knock that to 10.35% and the yearly cost is $141,898,500.00. That’s based on all FTE making 45,700 a year which is the step 5 starting wage in SD 57. Pretty sweet deal that I hear teachers whine about what they have to pay into it. I would love my employer to contribute 6300+ every year into my retirement plan when less and less employers even offer RSP matching.
Their “modest increase to health plans” is a huge issue they want $3000.00 per year per person in massage therapy, beyond selfish and ridiculous, they want fertility drugs covered. Funny thing is that smoking cessation meds are not covered which that is a benefit to more than just the person using them and they demand fertility drugs.
Decrease the pension to that of a college professor and the savings are astronomical.
Siabiz – wow. I’m waiting to see if anyone can refute this.
Siabiz; Silence is golden!
“Funny thing is that smoking cessation meds are not covered which that is a benefit to more than just the person using them and they demand fertility drugs.”
REALLY? Get with the times Siabiz stop smoking aids are paid for by every taxpayer in BC thanks to families first Christy!
Once again this dispute is about all workers rights!
http://castlegarsource.com/news/teachers-strike-more-about-bc-governments-contempt-constitution-pay-or-working-conditions-31782#.U6mhN4m9Kc1
I get a kick out of people with their two bit jobs complaining about the teachers. Hey you should have stayed in school.
It’s not just about the pay by any means, not by a long shot. If the teachers lose this the fibs will be after you next.
Loki so are you willing to upgrade and not get paid for it by your employer, I highly doubt it. Think before you speak once again.
And well some people on here have crappy jobs and no benefits and so they are jealous an have to put other people down when they actually worked hard to get there.
Posted by: buzzinga on June 24 2014 3:52 PM
And well some people on here have crappy jobs and no benefits and so they are jealous an have to put other people down when they actually worked hard to get there.
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Then again, maybe there are those who understand that our publicly funded systems (civil service, health care, education, etc.) are not sustainable and need a complete overhaul. Teachers should be well paid for what they do but their platinum benefit package is going to bankrupt us.
BC teacher’s “Platinum Pension Plan” invests millions and millions of dollars in businesses all over the Canada that employ people that aren’t teachers. I imagine there are lots of people on here that are independent business people who get some benefit from these investments.
Public Sector investment inventory is listed below:
http://www.bcimc.com/publications/pdf/Inventory/Inventory20130331.pdf
Seriously, no one would have a clue how good there so called platinum benefit package is and I tell you it is not very good as compared to the corrupt politician that is scamming everyone of you for as much as possible before they get cought.
And seems like most people on here don’t know how to negotiate either, the teachers are asking that but seems like the government refuses to counter offer and in turn makes it look like the teachers are greedy.
Should go check out Google News
( http://www.GoogleNews.com )and get some info on what the teachers are asking for. Benefits??? some which I don’t agree with. Class sizes and school supplies, I’m with the teachers on that.
Great article Peter. Inclusion teaches children at a young age to have compassion and empathy for special needs children with any disability while at the same time understanding their disability and showing acceptance. Our special needs children have every right to an education as all children do. This is not an experiment gone bad as previously posted. All children are our future and the necessary resources need to be put back into the classroom in order to have success for all.
Noway-you get one smoking cessation supply through the province’s plan. I believe it is a good thing. The teachers feel that fertility drugs which are insanely expensive should be paid by tax dollars. I was merely using smoking cessation as a comparative to show the skewed the values of the bctf and those that they represent. Seriously fertility drugs? That’s a bit outrageous and their increase to their massage therapy.
We have food programs In our schools because too many People cannot afford to feed their kids and teachers are demanding we pay more and more an more. I was for a wage increase however in all honestly perhaps they need to receive only a cost of living or find ways to create savings.
The benefit package is pretty nice when you consider how many people are not able to go to the dentist because they don’t have a plan that is cost shared with their employer.
If it’s about kids take a cost of living, reduce the pension which will be an increase in teachers take home pay and then take all the savings from the pension and pump that directly into more classes. I personall like the Scandinavian model 8-14 kids and roughly 35,000 is their top wages. Maybe we could move to that model if it’s about the kids.
Well , if you get greedy, you can end up with nothing. End of story. And no, we are not interested in a socialistic country.
HartoftheMatter, you ask:
Not sure where you get this idea from: “The period of time that Peter talks about was a 3 year window that encompassed the term of the clearly unaffordable sweetheart deal of a contract that the Glen Clark NDP Government gifted to the BCTF!!”
Teachers have ACTUALLY taken seven years of zero increases since 1998 (in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013). The agreement in 1998 specifically chose NOT to take a wage increase in return for the promise of guaranteed improvements in class size and composition language. HART GUY – your “facts” are wrong and amount to just as much right wing propaganda as you accuse Peter of slinging the other way – except his claims can be substantiated.
Sorry to tell you HartoftheMatter, but my “facts” are correct and you are in fact incorrect!
The NDP sweetheart deal of 1998, the one that 3 Deputy Ministers of the Glen Clark NDP Government negotiated with the BCTF, without ANY input from the BCPSEA or the 60 Provincial School Boards, gave the teachers the same 0-0-2 that other Public Sector Unions were receiving during this period of “restraint”! However the deal also gave massive increases in benefits and pension contributions in order to get the BCTF to sign on to the deal! This later prompted the new Ujjal Dosanjh NDP Government to have grave concerns about the affordability of the package and it also prompted the new math of 0-0-2 = 11%, as raised in the Legislature!!
0-0-2 AND whopping increases in benefits and employer pension contributions!
Wow, poor teachers!!
Fire them all! Set out a new contract and offer jobs to all that are willing to work under the new contract!
It’s pretty bad when our teachers are more greedy and more childish than the children that they teach!!
Fact? HartoftheMatter, I KNOW the facts!! I suggest that you learn them as well!!
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