The rubber hit the road last week in the ongoing contract dispute between the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and the B.C. Liberals, and it was 100 Mile House Elementary School students, parents and teachers who got hurt in the brouhaha.
At issue is the BCTF’s dictate that “Teachers shall not participate in any fundraising.”
This meant the school’s teachers could not participate in the school’s fundraising project with Ford Canada even if it’s on their own time, and not just during school hours.
Obviously, the intent of BCTF’s rule is to educate parents on how important teachers are in the school’s operation, including fundraising for the field trips and a kitchen for a hot-meal program.
The BCTF hoped, we assume, that when the parents felt the pain of having to do all of the fundraising by themselves, they would jump on side with their local teachers and apply taxpayer pressure on the government to give BCTF what it wants.
That ploy has never worked in the BCTF’s existence and never will because the political idealists who apparently represent the united front of the province’s teachers haven’t learned that when you mess with our kids and try to use them as pawns, we’re going to turn our backs on you.
When we talk to local teachers and parents, it is quickly apparent there is a great relationship because both groups realize there has to be a positive partnership if “their” children are going to get the most out of their formal education.
So instead of creating a united front against big, bad government, the BCTF management has created a publicity nightmare and has parents glaring at them and disgruntled teachers muttering under their breath.
At the same time this local discontent is brewing, the BCTF has decided to make an exception to the no-fundraising rule by allowing teachers to get involved in the annual Terry Fox Run. Even the BCTF knows the danger of getting bad press for turning its back on a national hero.
Parents know and support the benefits of smaller classroom sizes, the need for teacher assistants and librarians, and they love their teachers for who they are and what they do for their children.
However, teachers need to muzzle the BCTF big dogs that are relentlessly chasing the big salary-raise bone.
