School Trustee Weighs in on Teachers Dispute
Prince George, B.C. – As the teachers strike threatens to wipe out a third straight week of classes, one Prince George School Trustee has been tweeting heavily voicing his concerns.
“I feel that our board has done a lot over the summer and we as a district don’t have an overly big social media presence so it’s just an opportunity for me to share,” says Tim Bennett.
“Public education is just too important to see our kids not in the schools.”
Trustee Tim Bennett
He’s also been careful not to pick sides though he admits cuts to education have run deep.
“I think right now it’s beyond taking sides. I think we want a stronger education system. This last year we saw as a district we had over a $5 million deficit that forced us to make cuts.”
Bennett says he’s simply advocating for equitable education for everyone though “the challenge is when government’s control the money.”
But in the short term he’s just hoping both sides in the dispute can strike a deal.
“I hope this is resolved soon and kids are back in the classroom as soon as possible.”
Comments
BC School boards from Hope to PG can come forward by conducting their own vote on supporting the arbitration. If the majority of BC school boards vote yes to arbitration then BC government will be forced more to accept the binding arbitration solution and the students go back to schools.
Any hope for such a vote?
Liberals have a majority government they don’t have to do anything if they don’t want to. Who is going to force them? and I think they have shown it many many times, and many more to come I fear…..
It isn’t just the liberals , any party with a majority will do as they like with impunity.
Prof .. Interesting concept .. don’t know why you would stop at Hope .. the Vancouver district school board is already on record in support of arbitration … bcracer … I say interesting because up to the 80s, local districts negotiated independently with the the ability to establish local tax rates … the provincial government stripped that ability away … might be time for a ground swell to return more discretion back to the individual school board and local tax payer … I have heard more than one long term right winger say that increased taxes to support increased education and health care might be in order
Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2014 @ 6:26 PM by bcracer
Liberals have a majority government they don’t have to do anything if they don’t want to. Who is going to force them? and I think they have shown it many many times, and many more to come I fear…..
It isn’t just the liberals , any party with a majority will do as they like with impunity.
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Only because the sheep allow them to.
If the people wanted teachers to get all their demands met, they would have elected Adrian Dix.
Unfortunately JB, the last election wasn’t about quality of education or health care … but then again, the Liberal’s position on job creation has paid off in major dividends, NOT
Sheep- you mean the mindless critters whose whole Raison d’entre is to stand cheek to jowl and nose to butt as they think that as a single mass they stand a better chance of protecting the lazy and shiftless===> exactly like a union.
And those who are hard working independent thinkers who stike out on their own are labeled “black”.
Oh they tried to elect Dix. The tf spending the strike fund on endless tv spots and Susan Lampert standing on the steps of the legislature telling Cristie Clark that her goose is cooked. How did that work out?
Liberal majority with more seats than before election.
yet here we have big oily money coming in from a group of ALBERTANS who don’t even have a right to vote in bc. WONDER WHY because they are the head board for IMPERIAL METALS, CLEANUP UNDER WAY what cleanup? KRUSTY and her servants are as crooked as a dogs hind leg, turning us into THE ALABAMA OF THE NORTH.
@anotherside, I meant all BC schools and I chose Hope in first line of my comment just to link to hope in last line of article. Another student of Chomsky in this forum is B.P. …. BC government should give back the power back to boards and step back micromanaging the education.
This comes from the trustee who spearheaded spending $100,000 on a new “strategic plan”. Cuts run deep, eh? This trustee might like to spend, though. That could have paid for 2+ more support staff, or literally anything else that would have been a better use of those tight dollars.
Really I don’t even get how this is a story?
anotherside: “Unfortunately JB, the last election wasn’t about quality of education or health care … ”
There are always excuses to be made, I suppose. Education and healthcare are 2/3rds of the Provincial Budget and they’re always after a bigger piece of the pie in the never-ending quest for tax dollars.
“they’re always after a bigger piece of the pie in the never-ending quest for tax dollars.”
Then I expect you, JB, to turn on your anti-union, anti-nurse, Liberal love-machine when the nurses come up next. They haven’t had a contract since March. Don’t stray from the status quo on us. We expect nothing less but consistency from you, if nothing else.
There is a nurses shortage and a retention issue to deal with; a salary increase as an incentive is always the best way to deal that market shortage. The same approach can be taken with the teachers. The market approach I mean.
Why do you think the nurses union gave the BCTF half a million? Because they are next up, if it was about support they would be out there with them like the unemployed at CUPE.
Jimmy Hughes nails it. There is no excess pool of nurses, and with the population aging we need to make sure there are enough nurses to take care of the baby boom retirement bulge.
On the other hand 2 out of 3 teacher school grads can’t get jobs. A couple of key differences:
1. Nurses work 46-48 weeks a year vs 35-39
2. Nurses do shift work that is erratic and unpleasant. Teachers have the nicest schedule of almost any profession.
3. Nurses put their lives on the line with HIV, Hep C, violent patients, cleaning various body fluids etc.
A market based teachers approach would see Canada knocked out of top spot in the world for teachers salaries, and the flip side would be smaller classroom sizes with the extra money available for hiring all the excess teachers.
Have a great morning!
I agree with you “cupricity” 100%
Just come from the USA last week. Gas $.94 litre. 30 Cans of Bud $15.00. Pack of cigs. $3.45. Roads in great shape. Minimum wage $15.00. I understand better now why we all need more money to live in Canada. Corporations fund schools in the US. Healthcare is bad in the US unless you can afford it.
Babyboomers are going to bankrupt this country and are mostly apposed to raises to the rest that still have to make a living.
Everett $56,980 $9,176 $75,902 1
Marysville $55,121 $19 $70,340 2
Mukilteo $53,129 $9,979 $69,921 3
Northshore $56,310 $9,958 $69,905 4
Stehekin $61,446 $17,424 $69,796 5
Snohomish $52,448 $10,260 $69,684 6
Dixie $49,111 $10,666 $69,567 7
Arlington $53,260 $9,889 $67,609 8
Naselle-Grays R. $58,457 $13,590 $67,595 9
Seattle $51,425 $9,859 $67,579 10
Auburn $53,390 $9,649 $65,968 16
Tacoma $52,369 $9,202 $65,597 18
Puyallup $55,619 $8,700 $64,765 25
Lakewood $52,523 $9,012 $63,997 30
Dieringer $56,353 $9,163 $63,963 32
Peninsula $55,191 $8,290 $63,804 33
Sumner $53,321 $9,256 $63,137 39
North Thurston $54,118 $10,028 $62,303 47
Enumclaw $53,516 $9,485 $61,961 51
University Place $53,374 $9,023 $61,842 55
Vashon Island $55,360 $8,440 $61,091 67
White River $54,576 $10,043 $60,599 78
Bethel $52,431 $9,745 $60,112 88
Olympia $54,691 $9,188 $59,428 106
Franklin Pierce $49,827 $9,411 $59,420 107
Federal Way $50,103 $9,039 $59,175 120
Steilacoom Hist. $52,124 $9,431 $58,835 133
Clover Park $51,564 $9,071 $58,473 147
Orting $50,460 $8,731 $58,201 154
Fife $52,296 $9,208 $57,462 176
Yelm $51,990 $9,253 $57,438 177
Eatonville $53,574 $9,465 $57,334 180
Carbonado $54,711 $9,016 $55,562 224
Statewide $52,956 $9,357 $61,396
Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2011/03/25/what-do-teachers-make-in-washington-state/#storylink=cpy
The money always has to come from somewhere. The last 30 years have been very very good for the public sector. The private sector, not so much.
as long as it does not come from you right JB
It has been coming from me. The problem is that there are fewer of me (non-taxpayer paid workers) and more well paid public sector employees. Something will have to give.
yup I agree. So you should pay more rather than everyone make less. 42% of our wage goes into tax including public sector workers. Pick on the folks that take care of you is backwards.
the nurses were not born nurses JB. They had to get past the teachers first.
Nice to see that you are so generous with my tax dollars, and think I should pay more to keep public sector workers in the high standard living they’re accustomed to.
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/08/28/high-times-for-the-public-sector/
“Government employees make up most of the top 10% of income earners”
“The rest of us pay more and more to this fortunate group while we struggle to provide for our families and save for our retirement”
Where did Chomsky come into this?
JB, I think that we should just give up on our futile efforts of trying to save for our own retirement. Perhaps we should spend it all and have a good time now!
Then, when we retire “flat ass broke”, we can all apply for Welfare and other Government Benefits. In order to take care of “us”, perhaps the Government can then raise taxes for those receiving high pension incomes, those such as the teachers and our other public sector workers!
We’ll give to them now and then they can give back to us later! What do you think! ;-)
Took long enough for you to figure that out“Hart Guy“you haven`t been paying much attention to the younger generation. 29yrs old and lots have boats, side by sides, jacked up trucks and $500,000 houses. Either they are teachers or on the freedom 100yr plan.
maverick 1965, I haven’t been paying attention, too busy working, paying bills, building a business AND paying taxes, haha!
I did however, notice that the “bleeding hearts” have instilled a “me, me, me” attitude in our younger generation, an attitude where they want it all, NOW and expect to have it all, ALWAYS!
I wonder if they’ll be thrilled to pay taxes to support me!
“Where did Chomsky come into this?”
Bill, I was thinking more in terms of academic genealogy than theoretical framework. Chomsky is more concerned with syntax and LF than the linkage between paragraphs that is in the domain of discourse. I do not agree with the notion of modularity of syntax and semantics which is challenged by statistical approaches.
Hart guy is the best definition of corporate greed on this site. Just because he is a employer he thinks the world owes him something.
“prof” Thanks for living-up to the stereotype. It brings to mind Matt Damon’s character’s observation during the pub scene of the movie “Good Will Hunting”.
Posted on Monday, September 15, 2014 @ 12:18 PM by Hart Guy
JB, I think that we should just give up on our futile efforts of trying to save for our own retirement. Perhaps we should spend it all and have a good time now!
Just raise the corporate tax in BC to the Canadian average rather than the 2nd lowest in Canada behind Alberta then cry me a river. The blue collar is tired of subsidizing you guys.
Jimmy Hughes your contribution to this forum is attacking others who do not agree with you. I generally ignore the liberal attack dogs, they remind me of the school bullies. Go back to school or library and expand your horizons.
8 and prof, keep up the good fight in trying to exploit the rest of us.
if you’re so unhappy JB move. The other province may like the expense of looking after you.
It is clear that the BC Liberals are being crushed under the immense pressure from the public, teachers, unions, school boards and the Damocles Sword of “R E C A L L” hanging over their heads.
Don’t try to change the subject by personal attacks.
8: “if you’re so unhappy JB move. ”
If all of us moved, who would you exploit then? Be careful what you wish for.
Prof: “It is clear that the BC Liberals are being crushed under the immense pressure ”
I doubt the Liberals are feeling much pressure considering they won a majority mandate just a few months ago.
JB was it not you that said if the teachers are not happy they should all quit? You run a double standard and I am starting to wonder if you know what you’re talking about.
Recent update on ongoing today’s negotiations with BTCF, reported by Globe and Mail:
“2:55 p.m. Mr. Ready and Mr. Cameron walk by. The former smiles and waves; the latter does not. Mr. Cameron seems tired. Media wait with baited breath.”
J.B is right if the teachers are unhappy quit and try something else. More to life than money.It would be a sad day in hell that I would stick with a job were I was unhappy regardless of the pay and benefits.
8: “JB was it not you that said if the teachers are not happy they should all quit?”
Nope.
I did question why anyone would stay in a job with such apparent poor working conditions. It could be because they couldn’t find another job that pays as well with so many perks.
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