Dear Editor:
I started teaching in 1971 in North Vancouver, after graduating from UBC. So I have worked through many labour disputes between the BCTF and the governments of British Columbia.
Today, I would like to thank the parents of Braemar elementary, where I work, for their wonderful support and the coffee and muffins that they brought us this morning, on that cold and rainy protest line.
I must admit that most of us did not ever expect a raise. I still teach because of what the students give me every day. That is, to be blessed to be in the presence of their "multiple intellegences." I teach learning assistance and those students are more gifted than I will ever be.
Historically, parents have not always understood the teachers' plight. North Vancouver has been and is a district that can offer a rich teaching and learning environment for all of us. We moved back to North Vancouver from Lions Bay when our children were of school age because it was at that time truly a "lighthouse district."
The reason teachers throughout this province are out on the street protesting, is that we want public school education in all of British Columbia to continue to offer a superior education to all children, including those with special needs. It is so unfortunate that the political spin doctors always seems to obscure that message!
We want George Abbott and Christy Clark to stop with this political posturing nonsense. They, and all citizens, need to realize that Bill 22, with it's continued stripping of class size and composition provisions from our collective agreement, is not only unconstitutional but it will hinder giving our most precious resource, our children and our grandchildren, a quality of education that will allow them to compete in the world markets of the future.
Barbara J. Scobie, North Vancouver
