Teachers and their supporters lined the Lougheed Highway near the Cedar Valley Connector to bring attention to the province’s education system on Monday, July 21.
This was the second rally held in as many weeks in Mission.
“I’m disheartened and frustrated by the lack of progress at the bargaining table,” said Mission teacher Scott Susin, who organized the Monday afternoon event, last week
“This isn’t a strike; it’s not a picket line,” Susin explained. “We’re keeping this in the public eye during the summer because a lot of times (teachers) are seen as being on vacation now. We’re still fighting for better public education.”
Last week the B.C. government said it would not impose a settlement to keep the beginning of the school year from being disrupted in September.
Finance Minister Mike De Jong said the lesson of imposing settlements is that they haven’t worked.
The BCTF strike for the last two weeks of June saved the provincial treasury about $12 million a day, while year-end studies and exams were disrupted. The two sides haven’t communicated since early July, when B.C. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kelleher said they are too far apart for mediation to be effective.
