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Change is possible

Editor: It is an important time in history for the general public to stand up and demand that your government of B.C. take care of our children. Demand that the government negotiate fairly with the teachers for our children and education.

 

Editor:

It is an important time in history for the general public to stand up and demand that your government of B.C. take care of our children. Demand that the government negotiate fairly with the teachers for our children and education.

So far our government has failed to follow two Supreme Court rulings that ruled that the government pay teachers the money due to them from court cases and to reinstate class size and composition to their contract. The government needs to follow the law.

The Supreme Court has stated that the B.C. government has gone against the Charter of Rights. The government since 2002 has been spending taxpayers’ money on lawyers’ fees to fight something that is essential for teachers to do their job to the best of their ability.  All that money used for lawyers’ fees, websites and $40 to parents while striking, advertisements in papers against teachers, could have gone into funding education. The government needs to stop their stalling tactics.

In terms of the other issues, teachers are asking for a fair wage increase very similar to other public sectors, approximately seven per cent for six years. Teachers have not had a raise in six years. Teachers in B.C. are the second lowest paid teachers in Canada. Our province is also the second worst per student funded in education. Our classrooms are larger than the rest of Canada.

So please speak up and pressure the government to negotiate a fair deal with the teachers. Change is possible with the public demanding it. We cannot be complacent any longer.