The following letter was sent to the Minister of Education and copied to Coast Reporter.
I am writing to you as I think it is high time the government got serious about negotiating an end to the B.C. teachers’ strike.
I heard last week that Minister Fassbender has proposed a cooling off period. The two parties have had the entire summer to cool off! This government should have been at the table the entire summer trying to hammer out a deal.
I want to see this government get behind and support public education. Any money that has been ‘saved’ during this strike should be put directly back into the system. Handing out $40 per day is not helping our schools. I want to see a commitment to my son who is currently in elementary school, and parents like my self who support public education. I do not want to see the system eroded and further privatized.
It is time to get back to the table. Negotiate in good faith and as the minister of education and the premier of this province to offer something to the teachers that respects who they are and what they do. You have already stripped their contracts. It is time to do the right thing!
Steve Giltrow, Gibsons
