Students look at professional development days as a day off from school. For teachers, professional development is a chance to expand their knowledge, bringing it back to the classroom.
But a lack of funding means teachers in the Vernon School District aren’t always able to attend an out-of-town conference.
Robyn Ladner, the professional development chair for the Vernon Teachers’ Association, says most teachers receive on average, about $160 per year.
“The professional development funding formula has not changed in this district for over 20 year,” she said.
“This ($160) usually does not cover the cost of attending a conference, let alone the travel.
Ladner said as a result, teachers are forced to save their professional development funds and may be in a position to attend a conference only once every two or three years.
“It is in the board’s best interest to ensure that there is adequate funding for teachers to continue their professional growth,” she said.
“These opportunities ensure that a quality education is being provided to students and provides opportunities for teachers to be exposed to new ideas, new ways of looking at the world, discussions with colleagues, the latest research, teaching strategies, emergent issues and so forth.”
School professional development funds are used to support individual teachers who accessed these funds to engage in professional activities, such as conferences and workshops, PSA conferences/memberships, professional books and publications and university courses.
Ladner pointed out that nurses receive paid training to ensure they have the latest information on new equipment, medical procedures, diseases and equipment.
“Teachers should receive no less, given the critical importance of education to children and to society,” she said.
VTA president Bruce Cummings said there’s not much teachers can do for $160 per year, and that $1,000 would be far more adequate.
The problem, says school district chairperson Bill Turanski, is that in order to increase ProD funding, cuts would need to be made elsewhere.
“Teacher professional development funding comes out of our operating budget, the money we get from the per student funding that is used to operate the school district and all the educational components required to provide the students with educational programs,” said Turanski.
“We have about 500 teachers in the district. To provide them with $1,000 each for professional development would mean that we would have to take an additional half million dollars from educational funding.
“The amount of money provided on a per-teacher basis is one of the local negotiated items currently being bargained. In addition to the professional development funding, each teacher may take two days’ paid time to attend professional development activities with the district covering the cost of the teacher on call to cover their respective classes,” said Turanski.
