The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation has lost its challenge in the B.C. Court of Appeal over the withdrawal of class size and special needs supports in public education.
In overturning two previous B.C. Supreme Court decisions, four of five appeal justices ruled the province did not violate the constitutional rights of teachers in legislating contract changes in 2002.
Cariboo-Chilcotin Teachers’ Association president Murray Helmer says the decision is “obviously disappointing.”
“[Government is] just going about it legislatively right now, piece by piece, to further erode anybody who has any control or input into the system, and is shifting that control right to the minister of education.”
This ruling casts an ominous shadow on all negotiated contacts with the B.C. Liberal government and sets the stage for reversed agreements, he adds.
“I think it should be a wake-up call for anyone who contracts with this government, union or non-union, that your contract could be changed unilaterally at any time and for any reason by legislation.”
Having this lost contract language now ratified by the courts will “certainly be problematic” for teachers and the public education system, Helmer says.
“In the absence of [contract] language, we have to rely on the goodwill of government to ensure resources are in the public system. Obviously that is not playing out in recent years – we’ve seen a steady decline in funding.
“The Teacher Education Fund is helpful, but limited in how much it can actually help.”
The $800,000 in this fund for School District #27 will cover about eight full-time equivalent positions, he notes.
“That is really not as helpful as it could be if we had firmer language around class sizes or … composition language that says we have to have a minimum of teacher-librarians and of learning support teachers and things like that.”
The $55-million the province has cut across the public school system this coming school year lines up fairly closely with the increased funding being added to the private school system, he notes.
“[With] the steady decrease for public funding and the steady increase for private funding, at some point you reach a breaking point in the public system where [it] can’t meet the needs of the kids, the kids start falling through the cracks, and the parents are looking for better alternatives and they’ll go where the money is.”
Since parents fund about 50 per cent of the private system, this saves government a “mint,” but is not equitable, he adds.
Helmer says there comes a point where the class sizes are too big and the composition is “crazy” and teachers become unable to keep up despite their best efforts.
Then, more of those parents who can afford it look to a private school with a class size of 20 and no composition challenges, he adds.
Helmer says this all leaves a crumbling public education system that even the most dedicated and hard-working teachers are unable to patch together.
