Urban Vancouver

i would to do a comment on the teachers i really want them to strike its a good thing becuase they need small classes AND MORE MONEY

This is such a GREEDY act to be asking for more money! Yes they work hard, but so do so many millions of others, who don't get raises either. We've no shortage of teachers in this province. We keep getting new teachers into this province. It makes no sense to increase their wages.
But should they be allowed to strike? You betcha! Should class sizes be reduced? ABSOLUTELY! And to this end, the government should get off its end and do its part!

I am a student in middle school and started grade 8. my homework is atleast one thing per class and while the teachers are picketing my homework is piling up. It isnt fair the teachers can be this selfish when the students suffer and we cant do anything about it.

It is absolutely not greedy for teachers to be asking for a wage increase. Our teachers work extremely hard...spend long hours preparing for class, helping students and getting involved in and supervising school activitiee, not to mention all the paper work involved and most of this takes place after hours, in the evenings and on weekends. Being a teacher involves so much more than just being in the classroom in front of students. Why is it that teachers are so undervalued. They are doing one of the most important jobs in our society, teaching our children. We place so much value on education but not on the educators...something doesn't add up.
Also, considering that salery increase is just one of the many issues being brought forth by teachers during this strike, that class size, adequate resource and teaching staff as well as adequate budgets are also central issues, i would suggest to the annonynous 8th grader that he/she actually talk to his/her teahers about why they are doing what they are doing and take this as an opportunity to learn about labour relations in our province and what the right to strike really means (instead of whinning about having a lot of homework!). He/She might realize that teachers are striking for her/him as much as for themselves (if not more) and that he/she should be greatfull that finally someone is taking a stand against our governement (which i would argue is actually the greedy and selfish party) for what is right and what is necessary. Bravo teachers for having the balls to fight for what you need and what you believe in!

Teachers in B.C. have been working extremely hard and has been for a really long time. Teachers hold one of the most important roles in our society. The problem is probably that this career is so often found and have been facing most of us for such a long time that we don't stop and consider the rights, abilities, and the importance of a teacher. The reality is that teachers are just as important as engineers, artists, or any other job that probably hold more attraction. For these careers are the trophies of you as a sucsessful student and them as sucsessful teachers. And as far as im concerned giving them a raise, maybe smaller classes to help them give you the individual attention you're looking for is the least our government can do.

I was a teacher once. I understand that there is lots to do before and after classes. But don't you know this before you want to be a teacher. IF YOU ARE A REAL TEACHER, YOU SHOULD BE IN THE CLASS TEACHING NOW. NOT ILLEGALLY STRIKING. What kind of education you striking teachers are feeding to our children. Are you trying to tell the children that it is okay to strike if you believe in it? And go against the law. So which means if someone is poor, they are okay to steal and rob because they need it?? Please do not use our children as your hostage for yourself.
PS: If you are not satisfy with the money. Find another job. Don't set up a bad example for our children

I'm sorry, but I see this strike as an ethical stance. Teachers are fighting for the right to bargain and the right to maintain a current standard of living. I suppose they should just lay down and take it up the ***? Give me a break! They have been functioning under imposed contracts for 12 years. I don't see how the needs of our student would be met by people who didn't fight for what they believe in.

I would rather teachers taught my children to fight for human rights than to cower in the face of a tyrant.

I don't see why the importance of one's position should negate basic human rights. We have laws to protect our people, and these laws are failing teachers. I am a concerned parent, and I do want my children back, but not at the cost of accepting tyranny.

The government has been imposing contracts on BC teachers since 1993. The bill that was recently passed was put in place with no negotiation. The needs and rights of teachers were violated.

The legislated contract doesn't even account for inflation. This means that teachers are forced to accept a lower effective wage. With gas prices as they currently are, inflation is rising dramatically. I see it in the stores every time I try to buy food for my family. Certainly no one is suggesting that it is right to force teachers to accept a lower standard of living and do more work? To force the group to recognize both reduced human rights and a government that is not an advocate for teacher’s rights?

Teachers have a right to equal pay for equal work, yet Ontario teachers make 30% more than BC teachers (Google the pay charts if you don't believe me). I know this legislation is directed more towards the rights of women and minorities, but the concept should cover all workers of Canada. Should BC teachers be legislated a lower standard of living simply because they reside here?

Forcing teachers to accept a contract because their occupation is an essential service is an abuse of the law. Until recently, this law was reserved for life-threatening services. Because the rights of these parties are compromised by this law, great care was applied in past years to protect these individuals through reasonable negotiation. Previous governments recognized the infringement of this law and sought balance through leadership; the government was an advocate for the rights of these individuals, but no longer. Now the government is using these laws to serve a political agenda, and not the people. There is no protection; our government is abusing workers. It's wrong and it's not the first time we've said it. Just look at the recent issue in the hospitals.

I know many people are hard pressed to take care of their children while this strike is on. Well welcome to the club. I'm a single parent with an income of less than $1200 a month. I need these hours to work, and I can't afford daycare. But I look at what is being done by our government and I support the movement. It's not easy, but the right thing to do often isn't.

I don't believe the government should have the right to force people to work harder for a lower effective wage. I don't believe the government has the right to cancel strike pay so people can't afford to fight for what they believe in. And most of all, I don't believe the government should be coercing our people, teachers or any others, in an effort to display leadership. This isn't leadership, its tyranny, and it is what the democratic model is supposed to prevent.

As a side note, I found it ironic that Campbell was out speaking on Native rights while this was transpiring. What kind of hypocrite advocates the rights of one party while stomping out the rights of another?

Can we have a BC teacher open up and tell us how much they get paid??? And what benefit they get??

What about all those single parents and low income families with young children that can barely afford to eat. Many of those parents can't afford daycare and can't afford to take off time off work. Those kids that are too young to be home alone have to stay by themselves. Many parents are having to take there vacation pay and stay home. I know some that are taking there next year vacation pay. Now they don't get to spend that time home during the holidays. I'm glad the government cut their strike pay. That don't deserve that money. It should be going towards paying for daycare.
The teacher strike is ILLEGAL! What an example that are setting. So now if I don't want to follow the law I don't have to. This is the message they are sending to kids. I'm sure they could have found some legal way to get the government to see their point.
They definitely should get a decent raise each year. About 2-3% like many receive but if you can handle classes of 30 maybe you shouldn’t be teaching.
How much longer does this need to go on? Now I’ve missed over a weeks worth of classes of Math 12 and Chemistry 12! That a lot of work that we (students and teachers) are going to have to find time to catch up on. There are provincials that we are preparing for. In courses like that there is no time to being catching up on missed work. How are we going to make up for missing all that time? My brother is in grade 4 and struggling to read. Now he has missed a lot of valuable time that would have been used to help him read. So how does this benefiting students?!

i have to say that i am so so disapointed by most of the comments that i have been reading. it acutally really surprises me that so many of you writing comments have put so little thought into what is acutally going on. it has been mentioned time and time again that the strike is illegal...well the fact is that the law that the teachers are violating is illegal...completely and utterly unconstituional. it troubles me that so few of you seem to either know this or if you do know this, care about it. i guess that i shouldn't be surprised, seeing that a large number of british columbians showed a truely remarkable lack of judgement (not to mention intelligence) in the last election by voting for gordon and his cronies, but come on...YOUR GOVERNMENT IS BREAKING THE LAW (and has in a similar manner, i have heard, about 8 times before), and this is accoring to the canadian charter of rights and freedoms and the UN, doesn't that matter!???! i do understand that it puts many parents in a difficult position, but think about your chilren for a moment....they are NOT being served properly by the school system...and teachers are fighting to rectify that as well as standing up to an unconstiutional, uncaring, backwards government. they will definitely learn the right lesson from all this: that governments are accountable to their citizens and that we have a responsability as citizens to act when that government is in the wrong.
wake up...and please before you go spouting all sorts of nonsense, get informed on the matter (and i mean from somewhere other than the government of BC website, the tv news or just the front page of the papers...acutally READ something....listen to the cbc690...for god's sake!!)!!!!

I think this whole situation is way to politically motivated. Every time anybody speaks of the government being bad, it's always liberals this and liberals that. It is as if they believe that any other political party would have this situation under control and all our children would be straight A students on the way to ivy league schools.

I agree that the teachers are getting a bad deal here, but let's not blow things out of proportion. Even if the teachers get everything they want, our schools and education system will still be in the dumps. So unless you give the whole system a major overhaul; test all the teachers for competence, give the curriculum a good once over and really fix the way education bureaucracy works, schools will remain the same, just with slightly wealthier teachers, slightly smaller classes, slightly more teacher aids and slightly newer books and computers.

wow graduating and goin to public school sucks thank god i go to a private school

I am really getting tired of people bashing teachers because they are out protesting an unjust law. People are constantly saying you can't pick and choose which law you follow, but many of us do just that! How many of you out there have refused to register your firearms????That is right, you have broken the law and if the police found you in posession of a firearm that is not registered, off to prison you go! This government is acting like a bully in a school yard. They can pass any law they like because there is no one to stop them. If they don't like how a teacher might "fart" in the classroom, they could make it illegal to do so and make it a law that if any teacher "farts" in the classroom they are breaking the law. I know that is a silly example, but it is true. Teacher's have no power to change anything, this goverment has legislated everything so all they have left is this protest. Parents you may want to stop and think about the fact that if teacher's are forced back to school with none of this resolved through negotiations, the only thing teachers could do to protest this government is to work-to-rule which means NO EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. No teacher will want to do this, but they will feel so demoralized that they will feel what else can they do?? All other options have been taken from them. Don't be fooled by the government saying they will have a round table to discuss class sizes and class composition, because they have already had class size legislated since 2002 and have done nothing since then to improve class sizes. That is not the government's mandate, it is the teacher's who work with the students everyday and see what is needed. Teacher's are the factory workers, the ones on the front lines. They are not lying. In fact they have done their job so well with so much less classroom support, that many people out there wonder why they are so upset? Teachers have done a good job covering cuts to eductation by doing more with less and now it has come around to hurt them. People are so upset with teacher's wages, but I would like to know of anybody out there who uses their own money to purchase needed supplies for their workplace? That is what teachers do. They use their own money to puchase needed supplies when they are told there is no money to purchase anything else. Teachers are not perfect, but they are trying to do the best they can with what they have been given, and it is time this government realized that our children are the future and to put money in education is not a lost cause, but a real investment in BC's future. This is not the recession of the 1980's. The government keeps saying how well BC is doing and yet it has no money for the children of BC and the teacher's who are responsible for them. Please let the teacher's know that you support them. This is not about the BCTF or Jinny Simms the BCTF President. It is not political. It is about teacher's all over the province saying I am not going to be quiet any more and it is time to stand up for the children in BC. If teacher's don't...who will???

Well, I have to admit that it is such a silly way for the teachers to get their voices finally heard, but it's the only way. Where we are timewise, there's no turning back. It's been a week already and they're going into their next week. If they turn back, all that was for nothing and it proves they're a bunch of pushovers.
Not only are they protesting for higher wages, they are fighting for the learning conditions of the students. Smaller class sizes and more teachers on call comes before their higher wages.
As a student, I support the cause in every way possible. Having more interaction with the teacher has proved to me to be a much easier way to learn in the classroom.

Looking for Daycare? Well there are many teenagers in high school that are out of school to that are looking for something to do during the day! Duh!

I was once a teacher - but I'm dead against the illegal strike they are now involved in. I believe teachers are paid very well - I have a friend who just completed her first year as a vice-principal and she rec'd $99,000 last year. Plus - this profession is paid for the rest of their lives - who else has such a full and secure pension plan? Most of the teachers now are being paid over $70,000 once they have their basic years of experience!
They lie to their classes about their paycheqes - one teacher told my grandchild that she could make twice as much in Ontario. That's a terrible way to twist the truth and get children's sympathy!!!

you teachers are doing the right thing to have a strike but it is afecting the grade twelves and grade elevens and also every buddy else because there not learning any thing and some of the stuff the grade twelves can,t do becuse it is locked up in the class rooms

and the provenchels exsams are coming up and alot of people want pass but they can not pass because you teachers will not let the student have the school work so they can pass and go to college and university or get a job can,t get a job with out graduating a good job or carrier so please listen to me from delone try something diffrent with the goverment but don,t mess up are lives because in the end your messing up your own lives your childrenare not learnig what you did when you were young thats all

you as the teachers know what to do is right you just have to look for the answer in you and you will know what is right remember your lives are at stake and alot more than you maybe thousands hundreads of thousands of students and other people that work in vancover or burniby newwestminister and north van west van and chillawack and bc. wide and maybe biger canada wide ontario toronto QUIBEC montreal
so think about what I said reall hard so you make the right desion

just as a comment to a earlier reply...vice-principles are NOT teachers...they may have been at some point but the position of vice-principle is an administrative position...so you can't even compare the two...completely different branches fo the school system. Also, many (most) teachers absolutely do not get paid $70 000 a year..salary is determined based on educational level and senority...so someone starting out wouldn't be getting that much..if any teachers even get that much! Also, teachers do not get their full salery every year from their pention plan...that amount is determined by how many years they taught and things like that...but it is not the full salery amoung!
To suggest that teachers lie to thier classrooms about thier paychecks is a rediculous and paranoid thing to say...and teachers would make 30% more in ontario so you child's teacher may have exagerated but certainly did not lie as 30% is a HUGE difference!
Get your facts straight...how about acutally talking to some teachers about why they are on the picket line your only source of information about the situation is from your gransdon....

Hey, judging from the quality of spelling in this forum the teachers have been on strike far too often.

Enough is enough! Teachers, it is time to get back in the classroom. Do you really have to wait until your militant leader Ginny Simms says it's okay. How about thinking for yourself or have you forgotten that this strike was supposed to help students. How can missing 2 or more weeks of school possibly help a grade 12 student who is worried about finals. This strike has turned into nothing more than a power struggle and I for one prefer to think that the government is running the province and not the unions. We all understand that improvements need to be made in the education system but those decisions should be made by all parties involved not just by the BCTF.

BC Teachers are breaking the law. This is the bases of our system.
They are hiding behind their Union.
Why do teachers not tell the public (who pay them) what they actually make per hour. I know teachers and have spoken to them about their real working time. Total hours per year run from 1000 to 1400. The average Canadian works a minimum of 1960 hours per year. On average a teacher makes $56,000 per year.... That is from $40 to $56 per hour.
They do no want (or cannot figure out themselves)the public to know that is what (WE) are paying them... Now they want more.
Teachers are so out of touch with reality.
As a tax payer, I am sick and tired of the teachers of this province.
Student can't read, write or handle basic math. I have tested this on many occations. The teachers have not been doing their jobs for years. The product (student) they put out each year is pathetic in comparison to the reat of the world. They have told us that we have the best educated students in the world. All lies.

Now they are breaking the law... It is time to revoke teachers licenses to teach. Lets start fresh with a group that actually care
about the students not just their paycheques.

Next time you talk to a teacher, ask to see their T-4... You work out the numbers (remember they work less than 9 months per year).
You have the right to see the T-4 because you are paying for them.

If the public wants to give teachers a 15% raise (that's $8400) per year, then each tax payer should receive a direct bill for the raise.

Until we understand the reality of what the Union are all about, this province is going down.

I think the teachers should remember the long term impacts their strike is having on families and outside businesses affected by the strike. Companies who rely on extracuricular activities for a large part of their income suffer when teachers go on strike. Students coming into their final year school, readying themselves for final provincial exams that will determine which universities they are accepted to and what they can major in, are affected by every missed day with their instructors. What of the parents who have to take unpaid sick days to stay home with their kids, risking finances and even jobs to accommodate this decision to strike. And how about the young kids, who learn that it's okay to break the law, if you really believe that what you're doing is right. There will be consequences. There have to be.

Teachers, I do understand your concerns about class sizes and resources. However, I grew up in the interior, where resources and extracurriculars were always scarce, thanks to the funneling of education budgets to the larger schools on the lower mainland who had more students to worry about, and I can tell you that I always found the information I needed and the experiences I wanted. It just required a little more resourcefulness on my part which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You can trust that your students don't each need you to hold their hands. Focus on the ones who do and get back in the game. Times are tough all over.

By the way, the education system strikes in the past, though not by the teachers themselves, were in protest of the same issues so they are not new. They are the reasons for my decision not to become an elementary school teacher and to homeschool my own children. I have chosen not to be trapped inside such a divisive issue, yet here I am, affected by it anyway because my partner works for a company that's about to go under because it relies on schools to continue its operation. How many people is it okay to sacrifice to satisfy your principles? No one likes it when terrorists pull these kinds of tactics, yet the terrorists completely believe in their causes. Why should we accept this situation any more than we accept that?

As a parent, I am feeling extremely frustrated by this ongoing dispute. The BCTF says it is about teacher's rights. But what about the rights of my children. They want to be back in school and are worried about how the lost days will be made up. Why do teachers feel it is their right to make all the decisions in the public education system. Does it not make sense to allow all parties involved to be part of that process. I as a parent and taxpayer would prefer that BCCPAC, and our Democratically elected government are part of that decision making process along with our hard working and respected teachers. The learning Roundtable makes sense.

I must ask why the elected officials we chose to represent the people are having so much difficulty doing so. The government is unbending, even though society at large seems to support teachers in this movement. By failing to recognize the will of BC citizens at large, our government is proving not to represent BC citizens. It's true that we vote our officials in, but we do so in order for them to run the country in a fashion people support. The bulk of BC citizens seem to recognize that teacher's rights have been compromized, and they support teachers in this action. So why doesn't our government simply admit to error and rectify this issue? I would have a lot more respect for a government that admited a mistake than one that held fast on an immoral position.

Time for our democratic leaders to follow through by representing the will of BC citizens at large. They need to listen more to the people and do the job we elected them to do.

How about Manitoba, Sask, Alberta. How much does the teacher get paid in other provinces? Why just compare in Ontario (are they the highest??)
Did you see, they are fighting for their right. But they did not open up and say how much they actually made in the past 12 years or such. All they tell the public is what they want to. Let's look at the real fact. Are they too greedy or are they poor little bees. We need to know all the details such as payrate, benefits, and others to judge any thing and give support.
Now, speaking of strike. If they can go on for so long and they can still live. They must be rich.

From reading the comments on this page much of what I would argue for the teachers has been covered. I would just like to mention ,since I am a University student in Vancouver, a huge number of teachers are required to take student loans out for their profesional training. I know that for myself going to school for 5 years will leave me $40,000 in debt. That is without doing an actual teaching program which costs about $8000 dollars. I will owe about $40,000 but it should be taken into consideration that as of the semester beginning in September student loans were increased by $800 per semester this increases student the debt. This increase was neccessary as tuition has gone up 100% in the last few years since the tuition freeze has been off and is scheduled to go up again next semester some rate above inflation. Not only this, as of the summer of 2004 the government decide to take away the government grants that students that were in great financial need would recieve so they would not be obligated to pay back as much in student loans. This is a bit of background of what many teachers owe or will owe when they are finished their teaching degree. I am aware that many people do not nead to take out a loan, they are very lucky. I wish it was this way for the majority of students.

Not only should people take into consideration what people have to pay to be a teacher it should be considered that especially in the Vancouver and the island area the cost of living is skyrocketing and will be for the next five years when we hold the 2010 Winter Olympics. I think that this needs to be taken into consideration. I know that everyone will be affected by this rise in inflation but why should we say teachers don't deserve to live decently during this time. I am sure we would all appreciate our wages going up. In fact it is going to be a necesity very soon. There was an article recently about the cost of houses in the Vancouver Sun newspaper and it appears as thought the average cost of a 3 bedroom house is about $500,000.

Now I am not a teacher as I have mention I am a student and not even planning on being a teacher but I done some reasearch in to teachers wages. From what I have found out the wages vary between the school districts and I am looking a at a fairly wealthy area of Vancouver's school district's salary schedule, a first year teacher who has gone through their at least five years of University and is a class 5 teacher their wage begins at about $39,000, after 12 years of service the teacher will be making about $65,000. The only way to get more money as as a teacher is to invest more money in school and aim towards a masters degree and if you do this your wage will increase, although after 12 years of service with a masters degree you will make about $70,000.

I don't know about you but I know that after working somewhere for at least 12 years I would hope to have a decent income especially since there is a very good chance I will still be paying my student loans off. As well it would be nice to be able to one day afford to buy a house to benefit my children. Especially after 12 years of service and I think that with the rate of the cost of living and post secondary education increasing it soon may not be possible to even do this. This should be taken into consideration when looking at teachers income.

Another aspect I have discovered through some field work in schools is, teachers are not lying about class sizes, I have seen classes of close to 40 students, with one to two students who really need to be declared special needs and have an aid but it is not possible with out the funding. As well as the special needs students, in these classes their are many ESL student who need a bit of extra time from the teachers. Between the ESl students and the special needs student the teacher has barely anytime to make it back the remainder of the class. As well as this, I have seen teacher haveing to break the law by photocopying text books for their students as there is not enough for all the students in the class. Also, I have witnessed teachers have to be creative with the seating arrangements as there are not enough desks to seat all the students. I know I attend university where the class sizes are very large and I learn, but I also wittness the amount of people who are forced out of the system because they need personal help and can not thrive in a system where you are just a number. If we let our public schools get like this there will be no chance for many people to get somewhat ahead in our society.

Another thing I thought I should mention is there is quite often talk about how the strike is affecting sport teams at the schools. I bet many people are unaware that the coaches at BC schools do not get paid to coach. They volunteer their time because it is something they enjoy doing, I have witnessed the life of a teacher/coach and this is very time consuming. Not only do the coaches not get paid and not complain about it, the school board that I am looking at requires that coaches pay for a substitute teacher if they go away on a school tournament. I don't know about you but I see this as ridiculous.

Anyway I just thought I would let you know what I have been considerering throughout the teachers strike. I wish as much as anyone that it would be over but I do not want the teachers to give in to something that will not benefit the children and not aid in maintaining their standard of living. All I ever hear is complaining about the government and it is nice to actually see a force actually standing up for what they and many others believe in.

Subnitted by Anonymous.

People are so upset with teacher's wages, but I would like to know of anybody out there who uses their own money to purchase needed supplies for their workplace? That is what teachers do. They use their own money to puchase needed supplies when they are told there is no money to purchase anything else.

---------------------------------------------

Who uses their own money to purchase needed supplies for their workplace?

Any tradesman.

The same private sector tradesmen and women that constantly have their wages lowered by the "free market" and have their tax dollars used to pay for teachers and nurses and bus drivers and and and .....to "maintain their standard of living"

These people should try a wage rollback, with no pension.

Btw. My landlord is a teacher, in the 60,000 dollar range, works in Vancouver and commutes from the Surrey area. Must do a lot of "homework" because he constantly beats me home, even tho I work in the Surrey area already. And a lot of gardening seems to get done on "sick days". Meanwhile a substitute teacher is doubling the tax burden on everyone.

I'm sick of hearing "we are doing it for the kids" "we are doing it for better equipment" "we are doing it for better patient care".

A raise will be given, a few scraps thrown in by the government and the problems will disappear for another couple of years.

Then we'll repeat the cycle all over again. And the unions will try again to garner sympathy for their "causes" from the real world.

Where is the outrage right now from the nurse's union for improved patient care BTW?

I forgot.

It's not contract time.

The problem is, not ALL teachers purchase needed supplies, by that I mean they just buy all the standards, but doesn't go over the line. I had a teacher once in grade 6, he had about 4 fish tanks, bring in some chameleons and fishes, give us stickbugs home to take care, you want to tell me exactly how much money he've spent? He enhance our learning environment, those fishes in his fish tanks are salmon, which is exactly what we learn in Science, we get to see them evolve and learn. To be honest, that's a huge sarcifice on his personal paycheck and all on his mind was to help us learn. Also, he arrives at school at 7:00am, but he buses to school from White Rock, and leaves at 5:00pm, and doesn't event ake his coffe break during lunch. He was my favorite teacher, but all the others were selfish greedy b*stards who doesn't want to spend a single cent on the student. I know there are still some decent teachers out there, but just a majority of them are too below average.

I am a student, msot of you aren't, listening to radio, watching tv doesn't make you an expert at this if you haven't experience it. None of my class exceed 30 people, average around 24-28, and to be honest, any number below 40 is hardly difficult. I know, easy for me to say right? I was in Hong Kong 4 years ago, and guess what, average classes were 40, and I learned all the way up to multiplying and dividing by grade 2, you hear me, grade 2. And to come to Vancouver at grade 3 learning plus and minus? This is ridculous, and homework here is a joke compare to Hong Kong, I had more homework in grade 2 than grade 10. Hong Kong may have nothing to do with Canada, but it jsut shows that there are class size over 30 and students do not get affected by it.

Also most of you who agreed on the strike, are total morons. And don't go telling me the teachers have right to bargain. Because you can go ask any grade 10, 11, 12 about this, they'll say that the teachers are wrong. Many grade 12 are not getting any early considerations into university because of this, and I'm worried about my grade 10 provincials. The msot important thign here, is what the student thinks, they're what's involved, affected the most. So those of you who got nothing to do, looking to do some debate on websites, let me tell you this, do us a favor and shut up, no one supports the teachers.

someone up there commented that teachers make 40 to 56 dollars per hour. I had to laugh when I read that. My first year teaching, I did the number crunching, just for kicks. It worked out to less than minimum wage. (on a per hour basis) if you want to crunch numbers the other way, fine. just keep in mind that us law-breaking citizens are "volunteering" an extra 15 to 30 hours a week for the benefit of your children...

85 million to raise salaries and benefits to teachers.

20 million for special needs.

A "promise" to limit class size.

---------------------------------------------------------

That's what got the YES vote to return to work for the teachers.

Tell me the "priority" in this equation, "we're doing it for the betterment of education?"

Haha, right.

Criminal contempt of court.

Crime does pay.

I want a job where I can break the law and get a pay raise.

In response to the volunteering hours at school.

Nothing prevented the teachers from

"working to rule" as a form of protest.

At least then the ones that were really hurt the most in this case the students, would not have to have been used as pawns.

Just like the patients, and commuters whose lives, sometimes painfully are disrupted by these actions.

It boils down to you broke the law, you got a raise.

Bravo.

Dear B.C. Teachers,

If you are reading this, I am going to tell you how proud teachers in Ontario are of you including myself and husband (both Ontario teachers). When we left the province of B.C., it was three and a half years ago. The classroom resources for what I was teaching were limited. I taught out of five science books for each class, none published after 1992. The place was in a shambles and the only things paperclipping the whole system together were the endless hours teachers put into helping students, creating resources and looking after their needs.

Ontario went through a lot here and since we've been here the teachers have been making up for their zero percent pay increases and rollbacks. My husband's wage has gone up 10,000 dollars. For this school district, we start at 48,000 and go up to 85,000. Teachers work just as hard here but I still remember the passion of my colleagues in B.C..

I also remember one of the classes I taught in and how many of the children had special needs from ADHD, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome to many other syndromes including laziness. There were only 24 but the class felt like it was bursting at the seems. The main teacher still made it look easy. Can I imagine him with the same assortment and the higher class sizes now hitting the thirty mark? No, I can't imagine. No wonder class composition is a concern.

I would also like to point out to general union bashers that perhaps they need to look at what would happen in the place of union negotiation. Would you really want all 38,000 teachers signing up under personal contracts? That would mean one teacher might be paid like a rockstar and another like a pauper. Definitely, you would have one teacher across from the other with differing rates of pay with differing perks and that would lead to a chaos that would affect the children in the classroom.

We're proud of you. Keep up the good work as long as you can, B.C. teachers.

Veronica

Veronica stated.

I would also like to point out to general union bashers that perhaps they need to look at what would happen in the place of union negotiation. Would you really want all 38,000 teachers signing up under personal contracts? That would mean one teacher might be paid like a rockstar and another like a pauper. Definitely, you would have one teacher across from the other with differing rates of pay with differing perks and that would lead to a chaos that would affect the children in the classroom

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Let's cut to the quick here.

I'm not a union basher. In fact I support them and the premise wholeheatedly.

However, when you crunch the numbers, the teachers are the ones who benefitted the most from the latest negotiations. I guess more money in pocket now will alleviate all the stresses of the job. At least for another couple years or so.

Dangling patients and commuters and students out there as your shield fixes nothing, especially when the majority of the settlement goes into the pockets of the unions.

Perhaps offering back 1/2, 1/3 or even 1/4 of the 85 million for a few more textbooks, perhaps another teacher or two, or any other resource needed for education would go a long way to actually bring some justification to the argument that this wasn't about money.

Odds of that happening, nil.

Money has a strange way of making all problems disappear, or at least leave the media spotlight for another couple of years.

I don't see Deb McPherson out there now bleating about overworked understaffed nurses, or lack of MRI equipment, or shutting down of palliative care beds, or threatening to leave for the US with all her minions.

But she will be, in a year or so. Perhaps flouting the law too.

Next time just say it like it is.

Me first, and if anything is left over, we can allot it to the public, which is the primary reason I have a job to begin with.

more work. less people! more illness. today many
people are getting fibromyalgae from such. actions the strain of goverment
wanting to clean thier hands of us all. try to collect
your insuarance when you get cronic pain etc.
good luck ! first of all try to get a diagnosed. before you know it your paper work. wcb. insurance a like. taking advantage right now, on many poor souls. is thier a dr. in the house. somebody told me he is having lunch with the mps. And by the way do they actually work 6 months of the year?
I know they won"t get fibromyalgae, and the like. they will however get a nice pension. not to mention thier
fair practices on giving them self a raise. Which is ok! cause they propabely deserve it. and them guys at icbc and wcb deserve theier big raise also. You propalely guested by now. I am screwed by them. and you will be do! if changes in
wcb icbc, are not dealt with. after seven years my first hearing I was denied of compensation. now I
have multi, chemical, senitivities. now I am concerned about the inviroment. because
all this makes me sick.now I am reduced to living in bc houseing where they use oil pase paint,[these days]! that's the goverment we all no and love. and they continuelly, spray for bed bugs.
with out the consideration of each individual in the building. most people here are all ready disabled through something!
however this is all buried in goverments cover up. like the rest of goverment alinements. a goverment that is not responsable.
all parties are trying to show they
are the responable
one, by degrating the other parties.
we need a change.
first we have to change ourselves?