The BC Teachers’ Federation suggests they are somehow being savagely mistreated.
BCTF would have you believe their concerns are students.
Why are wage demands at the top of the list?
BCTF has been reluctant to share with important facts with the public.
George Abbott, stated government will discuss concerns of the BCTF, within the “net-zero” mandate.
Look at the well-paid package for BCTF.
According to The Province columnist Michael Smyth, there are 193 teaching days in a calendar year. This includes seven non-instructional days called “development and administration,” leaving 186 teaching days.
Each day, after “prep time” is factored in, teachers receive five hours of teaching time.
The average salary at $68,240 a year without benefits, pays $366.88 per day. I realize and do not discount the fact that many teachers contribute personal time that is a great contribution to the system.
The intention here is to see the cost of this program from a reality point. BCTF wants a fair deal, but before that happens they will have to understand fair.
Over the past 10 years, a decline of 59,000 registered students has seen the budget for education increased by $1 billion. Why?
BCTF is demanding a 15 per cent increase, improvements to benefits, better working conditions and more non-instructional time to match provinces such as Ontario. In some cases, prep time will double.
The cost? Two billion dollars.
Economist Don Drummond’s report singles out prep time as the critical cost driver in Ontario’s school system, now in financial ruin.
BC Public School Employers’ Association reports there is plenty of prep time right now.
Should our government allow a critical error to be negotiated?
I wonder what the system would look like if teachers had the freedom to work outside the BCTF rather than being forced into a membership in order to have the right to work?
Is our school system getting the bang for our bucks?
Should we consider private/government schools, allowing teachers to choose where they work?
In my opinion, this situation is no longer about the teachers or the students, but rather a bad malfunction in the public sector that needs a major overhaul.
Bryon Every
