Gibsons - Dear Editor: An open letter to school trustees of North and West Vancouver: I have great trouble trying to figure out why not one of the elected school board trustees in North and West Vancouver opposed a B.C.
Gibsons - Dear Editor: An open letter to school trustees of North and West Vancouver: I have great trouble trying to figure out why not one of the elected school board trustees in North and West Vancouver opposed a B.C. Public School Employers' Assocation directive to lock out teachers before, during and after school.As a teacher, when a student asks for help as lunch begins, I have to say "Sorry, but under the lockout provisions, I am prohibited from working during my lunch hour." When a student asks for their essay back, I have to say, "Sorry, but under the lockout provisions, I only have 45 minutes before school and 45 minutes after school to mark 120 papers - a time I also have to put aside for planning your classes." Under the lockout provisions, I have been told that I can still volunteer for extracurricular activities, but I question whether I want to when I have been barred from working with students so as to justify a 10 per cent pay cut. By not opposing this lockout, are you really serving the best interests of the community you serve?As a parent, I have similar concerns. I'm concerned when my nine-year-old comes home from school with a full lunch and tells me she couldn't eat because the behaviour of students has dramatically deteriorated without teacher presence. I am concerned you re-defined a teacher's workday by suggesting working through the evening, on weekends and on holidays is now beyond the employer's expectations.It has been suggested that it takes 21 days to create a new habit: teachers are halfway to realizing the new work culture your lockout has prescribed. Is this good for your community? Have you thought about the ramifications if, God forbid, something happens at a school while every teacher is two-blocks away having been locked out of schools because you failed to oppose a ludicrous directive from BCPSEA, the government's bargaining agent?As both a parent and a teacher, too many times I scoff at the perceived childlike behaviour of both the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the Liberal government. But school trustees were elected to rise above irresponsible politics. By failing to oppose the BCPSEA directive to bar teachers from fulfilling all their duties during the school day, you have not acted in the best interests of students, parents, your employees and your community in general.
