tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post112542371294218683..comments2024-03-28T04:04:03.006-07:00Comments on Paying attention: School strike escape plan sitting unused on the shelfUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1130343175125941502005-10-26T09:12:00.000-07:002005-10-26T09:12:00.000-07:00I agree with the last comment, it was a waste of t...I agree with the last comment, it was a waste of time. Teachers will never get anything from are fucked up goverment! w00t!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1130342878754491222005-10-26T09:07:00.000-07:002005-10-26T09:07:00.000-07:00THE STRIKE WAS A WASTE OF TIME..BUT GOT ME OUTA SC...THE STRIKE WAS A WASTE OF TIME..BUT GOT ME OUTA SCHOOL sooo THX...I THINK U SHOULD HAVE ANOHTER STRIKE AND GET THE MONEY U DESERVE AIIGHT....PEACE MA NIGGA's HAHAHA SHO NUFFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1125512361758463102005-08-31T11:19:00.000-07:002005-08-31T11:19:00.000-07:00Local bargaining won't work because boards don't h...Local bargaining won't work because boards don't have any taxation authority. Which is why bargaining with BCPSEA doesn't work either, BCPSEA represents school boards that don't control their own revenue.<BR/><BR/>As a teacher, my concern with the Wright report is that one of the terms of reference for an arbitrator is the government's ability to pay. This is both subjective and open to manipulation. Give an across the board 25% tax cut and all of a sudden you don't have the money.<BR/><BR/>In the end, teachers are paid using taxes raised by the provincial government and I believe that we should be bargaining with them. As it stands now, the province is hiding behind the skirts of BCPSEA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1125503816289490782005-08-31T08:56:00.000-07:002005-08-31T08:56:00.000-07:00As a parent (and non-union, non-teacher, self-empl...As a parent (and non-union, non-teacher, self-employed taxpaying citizen) I fully support putting class size back in the teachers' contract. Since they took out out, our kids have suffered, never mind the teachers.<BR/><BR/>The argument for removing class size from the contract was flexibility and we all see where that got us. The only other way to end the inevitable abuse is to legislate class size limits, as was done for elementary, and that means you still end up losing the flexibility anyway.<BR/><BR/>And as for the ridiculous argument that class size doesn't matter...uh, sure, guys! Like how many of you actually believe that size doesn't matter? And why do parents who can afford it fork over $10,000 a year for private schools whose main selling point is smaller classes?<BR/><BR/>Paul, I'm not sure I get all the arguments for & against the Wright proposal but I think there are other options that should also be explored, like local bargaining. Our school district (Vancouver) has had no such problems in negotiating a series of successful labour contracts with other employee groups. Part of that, I'm sure, stems from the respectful, collaborative and open culture between parents/teachers/employers that our trustees have carefully cultivated. <BR/><BR/>The BC Liberals have taken glee in bashing teachers at every opportunity since they took office in 2001. Why? Because their powerful union was the main obstacle blocking the Liberals' Fraser Institute-backed ideological agenda for U.S. style education reforms stressing independent/charter schools, cutbacks and traditional test-based rote learning. So they must bear most of the blame for the poisonous climate that is obstructing a solutiuon (though your points re other disincentives are valid). Of course the teachers hate them; wouldn't you, if you'd been treated that way?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-1125451382568361752005-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:002005-08-30T18:23:00.000-07:00Here we are again, wading through a completely dis...Here we are again, wading through a completely disfunctional round of bargaining between teachers and BCPSEA ( AKA the government's bag man). The root of the reason for teachers taking more drastic action is the complete denial by the Liberals that BC teachers have anything called free, collective bargaining rights that include working conditions ( which translates to improved LEARNING conditions for the students we teach if anybody hasn't clued into this yet.) There are many problems with the Wright report from a teacher's perspective as well, including: who picks the commissioner? If it's the government, forget about it. Final offer binding arbitration may seem a compromise at first, but has a host of problems. This type of bargaining really only is applied in one area anywhere in the world, professional sports. The government's call that education is governed by the "ablility to pay" guarantees that only when the economy is good will we educate our children. Sorry, this is not good enough for the future of BC society. By the way, aren't we sitting on one hell of a budget surplus? ( never mind the ill-gotten way this surplus came about...off the backs of regular working-class people and that fairy-tale tax-cut-that-pays-for-itself) Why did Mr. Wright reject ALL of the BCTF's recommendations but include 14 from BCPSEA? Not an auspicious starting point if "mending walls" was a supposed goal. Why did Mr. Wright keep BCPSEA as the "sole bargaining unit on behalf of the government" when it was this group's refusal to bargain ANY agreement with ANY of the workers in over a decade? does this make any sense? BCPSEA IS THE PROBLEM and the Wright report does not fix this. "The government has the responsibility for education"...I shudder at that thought. It seems to me this government has one plan for BC public schools...underfund them, make them look unsuccessful and then privatize them all! Two-tiered education a'la the USA. Answer me one question Mr. Willcoks please. What are your thoughts about the Liberals openly and flagrantly ignoring a call by the United Nations to rescind the legislation removing teachers' right to strike and making them "essential service"? Do the Liberals flaunt the law? Do they "pick and choose" what suits them? Certainly looks this way to this teacher!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com