Dear Editor:
Teaching and learning are supposed to go together. How is it then that our public school teachers repeatedly fail Public Perception 101?
Many parents have experienced the frustrations associated with class sizes that are too large and classroom and student support services that have been cut by various governments to the verge of uselessness. There is enough resonance here to make these "silk purse" winnable issues. But the position becomes a "sow's ear" when, inevitably, history repeats itself and the BCTF succumbs to the "we want more money" mantra.
In 2009, median salaries across the industry in which my staff work went down in Metro Vancouver. And people in our field spent the next 12 months just getting back to 2008 levels - assuming they still had their job. Doubtless, others are in similar predicaments.
In this context, what sympathy do teachers think people will have for current BCTF wage demands? While there's a strong possibility citizens would pay more money to increase the quality of classroom conditions and education resources, there's little chance these same citizens will support compensation increases for the existing cadre of teachers. We've just seen what B.C. voters think of disingenuous methods for raising taxes. And it seems the government got the message. Pity the teachers didn't.
B.C. children may not get report cards this fall, but unless the teachers revise their approach they assuredly will. And the grade will be an "F."
Again.
D. Brent North North Vancouver
