BCTF Claim Victory in Supreme Court
Prince George, B.C. – “It’s a great win for the students and parents in British Columbia.”
The words of Prince George and District Teachers’ Association president Richard Giroday following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision today which will allow the BC Teachers Federation to negotiate class size and composition.
Both the BCTF and the province were set to make arguments at a hearing today however a decision on the matter came from the bench. The vote was 7-2 in favour of the teachers.
Giroday says it’s the end of an ongoing battle between the provincial government and teachers since the government tore up teachers contracts in 2002.
“This is the end of the line. The Supreme Court has the final say and they said the government violated the constitutional rights of teachers when they enacted their legislation and did what they did.”
He says it means relief is on the way for students who need additional supports, such as counselling, and ESL support.
“We have classes right now where there are nine independent education programs for nine students in a class,” says Giroday. “And we’re talking primary school students. It’s a nightmare, it is stressful, it is very difficult for teachers to provide the kind of support that they need to give to students.”
250News contacted B.C. Education Minister Mike Bernier for comment but he hasn’t responded.
Comments
Yay more non-instructional days for the kids.
You’re an idiot. Quit trolling!
Congratulations to the BCTF. The BC Liberals have wasted mega tax dollars chasing this through the courts. This never should have happened but what can you expect from a government that has always thought that they are above the law.
My wife is a teacher so I will disclose that first thing. I might was well be single being married to a teacher. If you are a good teacher, you work every night marking assignments and prepping for your next days activities.If you take a night off to go to a show, you still have that work waiting for your when you get home. There are lazy teachers but there are also lazy dentists, lazy cops, lazy housewives, lazy parents etc. There are also the vast majority of them that are hard working and dedicated to improving the lives of their students usually with no help from any parents. On non-instruction days, my wife actually goes in earlier then normal in order to prepare for the course that she is taking that day. They get new curriculum that requires changes to their day plans and they are expected to be social workers and referees when dealing with kids with either no family life of worse, a terrible abusive one. Then you have an under-funded system that now has to take care of itself and do more with less. The government knew they were going to lose this case yet they spent the money making fat cat lawyers richer instead of investing it in the education system. If you can type and read and write, go ahead and thank your teachers.
If you can use an online methodology to thank your wife , how about thanking the IT who made that possible ?
Thank you IT guy who also learned their craft from a teacher.
I guess the question is, is that if teachers are so busy, then how do the lazy ones manage to stay on the payroll. If they are not doing the work should they not be fired.??
I would say like all trades and professions, there are good ones and there are bad ones. I’m not a teacher. I work in the private sector and have a job that gives me the responsibility of firing people who don’t maintain the operational standards of the company. Believe me, I wish they would remove some of the lazy ones.
Union.
metalman.
Your married to a good dedicated teacher, wish my kids have your wife as a teacher ! I wish all teachers had this attitude! Tell your wife, the class is lucky to have a teacher like you!!!!
Thanks for the comment Fraser Lake. I will. I know there are times when we both wonder how the heck do we get time to just be us. She is a dedicated wonderful person who actually cares about her students. You can’t walk through a mall without some kid running up to her and thanking her for believing in them. The difference now is because she’s been doing it for so long, sometimes the “kid” is a grown up with kids of their own.
I wonder are the lazy teachers in the system for long? IT is great news that the teachers finally won their battle.
Cheers
I think I would be more worried about great teachers burning out and walking away from their career.
PGguy1234, I’m glad to hear that your wife is a hard working teacher. Teachers are well paid and receive substantial benefits in addition to an extremely generous taxpayer subsidized pension plan. I’ll assume that because you say that she is hard working, in her case we are getting good value for our tax dollars.
I will also assume that you do realize of course, that there are MANY in other salaried professions that also work well beyond the normal work day, including weekends! The difference is, these people may work evenings and weekends beyond their normal workday for the ENTIRE year, vacation time excluded of course! Teachers, including your wife will usually only do this for approximately 182 instructional days per year! That’s only 36.4 weeks in a 52-week year!
As far as your comment that you might as well be single being married to a teacher, I’m sure that the 15.6 work weeks per year that your wife has off for Christmas, Spring Break, Long Weekends and the slightly more than 8-week Summer Break is ample time for both of you to enjoy some good quality time!
Right now, unfortunately, there are a lot of people out looking for work and many more worried about their current job situation. From their point of view, teachers have it pretty darn good. Before you or anybody else suggests that I should spend some time in a teacher’s shoes, I’ll remind you that that works both ways. Small business owners often work day after day, year after year, seldom taking more than the occasional day off here and there. Oilfield workers and miners are often away from their families for extended periods of time, living in camp and working long days. My point is that as bad as teachers think they have it, there are far worse jobs and careers. In spite of the constant complaints from the BCTF about the workload and job situation of their members, we still see absolutely no evidence of a mass exodus from the profession.
Perhaps the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence? The fact that our universities are still churning out more teachers than we have positions for lends credence to that question, wouldn’t you agree
It is quite obvious that Christy never went to school long enough to know that she should be handing in her resignation or maybe she will.
There is a small error in the story where it states; “…there are nine independent education programs for nine students in a class.” Actually it should be nine independent education “plans” for nine students in a class.
Congratulations to the BCTF and the PGDTA, for some of us (and we all know who) there was never any doubt as to the outcome, too bad this “loser” of a BC Lib/Con Government wasted so much time, and our taxpayer dollars, pursuing such a futile matter.
It would be a great victory if it was just the teachers and not the BCTF. The BCTF make it their job to keep awful teachers in the system and to keep new teachers out of the system. There are many teachers protected by the BCTF that have been using the same lesson plan that they used in the 1980’s. I hope that the resources will be put into the classroom.
Yes PG GUY I can relate to what you are saying. Samething in my household, the wife has been teaching about 28 years now and absolutely loves teaching. Lots of home hours prepping lessons and marking tests. Still to this day whether it be on the street or in the mall there are past students stopping her to thank her for caring about them and how grateful they are for steering them in the right direction. I am proud of her for showing dedication and commitment to the teaching profession, but most of all being able to challenge all those young minds that absorb the knowledge passed their way. Teaching just isn’t an 8 hour day where you throw down the shovel and walk away its much, much more than that. Im sure that we all were told to stay in school, get an education because it does pay off in the end.
Yes, the money spent on our government fighting the BCTF could have been spent in the school system. Now, the taxpayers are going to pay even more, and for a long time.
metalman.
Clarks continued hate to the teachers keeps costing us more.. what have the legal fees and court costs for this continuing fiasco? Probably less than any raise the teachers wanted..
Also for all you who slam the teachers..you had the choice to become a teacher or do what you do now. If you made the wrong choice and are mad at anyone..I suggest a mirror…maybe if you have time you could go back to school and become a teacher.
And remember..teacher also get the pleasure of those special parents with the perfect kids…..YIKES…
Very glad I am not a teacher..but do appreciate the ones that took it on as a career.
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