Editor:
In reference to Susan Mearns letter (“Get our kids into school” in the Aug. 29 edition of the Coast Reporter:
I feel it is a bit disingenuous of Sue to write only as a parent of two high school students.
I believe she is still a teacher at Elphinstone Secondary School and therefore has a vested interest in getting teachers back to work.
I am in agreement that the government should do something about class sizes and composition, although I went to school in an era when there were five rows of eight and the teachers didn’t seem to have a problem with 35 or 36 students filling these desks. Were we better behaved than the kids of today? If this is the case, where does the lack of discipline and respect begin? At home? At school?
I disagree with the wage demands being made. The Teachers’ Federation has always been very strong and educators have a wage and benefits package most of us could only dream about. The taxpayer simply cannot afford what is being asked of them.
As for there being no negotiations over the summer, surely that is a pressure tactic placed by both sides. Vince Ready has now walked away from negotiations. Please, please get back to bargaining with fairness on all sides and less entrenchment, for the sake of our kid’s educations.
Sheila Carlson, Gibsons
