To the Editor,
Re: Province names mediator for teachers’ bargaining, March 29.
George Abbott recently announced the appointment of Charles Jago to a $2,000-a-day job mediating between the B.C Teachers’ Federation and the employers’ organization. Students and parents take note.
The Minister of Education has given you a very clear example of what it means by ‘suitability’.
You need have no previous experience to do the job, have clearly stated, in fact have ‘published opinions’ that prove bias, already have collected a paycheque from the employer, have given financial contributions to the ‘employer’ and this will make you the ‘most suitable’ mediator for a job that has been referred to throughout the province as one requiring the most skilled and impartial of persons to succeed.
Is this the standard of ‘suitability’ that you want to be used to decide who will be the best chemistry, math or even kindergarten teacher?
This is what happens when you take out ‘experience’ and replace it with ‘suitability’.
If this does cause you some unease, be sure to contact your superintendents and administrators. These are the people that will be taking their orders from the Minister of Education on what ‘suitability’ will mean when hiring the teaching staff in the coming years.
Wendy deGroot
Nanaimo
