I wish to address the point raised by D. Bradley in last Friday’s letters, namely, “Teachers’ salaries under median.” I appreciate her clarification of teachers’ salaries.
My figures were extracted from a Sept. 1 story in The Vancouver Sun.
Being trained as a journalist as well as a teacher and having been a community newspaper editor, I gave the Sun article credulity;
However, the Sun had been provided with incorrect information by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, as cited in a “Setting It Straight” item.
I apologize for compounding the BCTF error, but then surely one should believe what one reads in the newspaper, shouldn’t one?
More importantly, how could the BCTF make such an error in sending The Sun incorrect information?
And, since I am no longer teaching, I do not have access to the BCTF collective agreement nor am aware of any public access to the pay scale for teachers.
Despite this, I do stand behind the point made in my Sept. 6 letter.
B.C.’s teachers need to pay heed to the province’s fiscal situation and to the concerns of the seven per cent of the working population (180,000) who are not employed.
Surely we need to help those people first.
G.E. MacDonell
