The winner of last week’s duel on civil disobedience was Laila with 67%.
This week’s topic:
Did the strike vote by B.C. teachers help or hurt their cause?
As results came in last week for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation strike vote, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take for the pro-government supporters to start spinning the news on social media. Within seconds of the live-streamed announcement the first anti-teacher tweets began, calling out those dreadful teachers for using our children as political pawns.
What they would like parents to forget is that the government calling out the BCTF for holding a “premature” strike vote is the same government that was recently criticized by a B.C. Supreme Court justice for failing to negotiate in good faith. For years, while the government has been pointing fingers at teachers, the only people using our children as political pawns have been those with the Liberal government.
As a parent of four, this strike vote didn’t fill me with sadness or gloom at all. In fact, like many other parents I know who were appalled by the court’s ruling in January — declaring the government tried to provoke a strike with teachers — I was buoyed by hope the results would show the government these negotiations need to be taken seriously.
It hasn’t been the teachers who have been in the wrong all this time, it’s been the government. Teachers in this province used to have a collective agreement that ensured smaller class sizes and guaranteed crucial classroom supports that are essential to education — supports like special education assistants, counsellors and teacher-librarians. When the government stripped those rights out of the agreement, all kids suffered from a lack of access to the supports they need, with children who require special education support impacted the most.
The thing that’s bewildering to me in all of this is why the government refuses to see the direct impact of their failed education agenda in the classroom…
Read the rest of this weeks duel, comment and vote at http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/03/09/bc-teachers-should-be-praised-for-trying-to-fix-broken-classrooms
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 