Author: Tara Ehrcke

George Abbott has picked up on a mistaken theme from a few Victoria parents and a few Victoria Trustees and is now suggesting he might eliminate sections of the School Act related to class composition. The notion is that limiting the number of students with special needs for any particular

The BC government is trying to impose a second round of “net zero” increases for public sector workers. One of the arguments is that other workers are not getting increases. The Conference Board of Canada, based on a survey of 236 organizations, has predicted non-union wage increases of 3% for

The BC Principals and Vice Principals Association has chosen a couple of times to wade in on the teachers’ job action. Unfortunately they have chosen to mostly remain silent, or worse to oppose teacher actions – including when we are pushing for changes to improve student learning. In 2002, when

With the appointment of a so-called “fact finder”, the BC government is apparently orchestrating its plan to legislate BC teachers and impose a contract. I say “so-called” because the government has appointed one of their own…we cannot expect any serious, independent report from an appointed government bureaucrat. He is not

The BC Ministry of Education has announced it’s “Learning Incentives Fund” via radio ads. Rather than put class sizes and class composition limits back into contract, and rather than reinstate teachers’ ability to bargain working conditions, the government is setting up a fund to provide additional money to address learning

Ah BC, the greatest place on Earth. Let me count the ways: 1. Highest child poverty rate 2. Greatest inequality 3. Expensive housing The mountains are beautiful, but is it really worth it? Probably not, if you are a new teacher, starting your career. Here are some facts to consider

I was gob-smacked this morning to read a quote from Kevin Falcon, the Finance Minister, reacting to the recent BC Statistics  report on growing income inequality. The report showed that BC has the biggest gap between the top and bottom twenty percent of workers of any province in Canada. Falcon

The last time there was such severe income inequality in Canada and the US was the 1920’s. Political pundits of all stripes lament this fact, and point to the heady days of the post-war era as the high point in social and economic equality. But they fail to address a

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of Bills 27 and 28. These two pieces of legislation began a dramatic shift in the framework of BC schooling towards a policy of “choice” – market driven public schooling. The most dramatic impact was on funding and class size and support for students with

Sadly, BC politics took a turn south this week, with Education Minister George Abbott fueling a backlash against teachers during bargaining. It is frustrating to see so many misconceptions in some of the reporting. But then again, they aren’t ignoring us, and that means something. The usual myths began just

There’s been some online discussion about Minister Abbott’s tweet up…seems he wasn’t actually doing the typing…although he was apparently in the room and directing the typist. Here are a few comments after the news was leaked: @vanislandrwRandy White @_Cuddlefish_ @jsteffenhagen@georgeabbottbc Funny how George Abbots wouldn’t even twitter with us over his #bcedplan. Says

Details were leaked this week from the talks between the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the Alberta government. Alberta teachers are currently the highest paid outside of the north, with salaries up to $20,000 higher than BC teachers. Their previous agreement provided for automatic increases relative to the growth of average

In an effort to get bargaining moving, the BCTF provincial bargaining team is presenting a new set of proposals at the table today. The proposals represent a significant reduction: * reducing “wage parity” with Alberta/Ontario (roughly 20%) to a Cost of Living increase of 3% in each of three years

At least two School Boards discussed motions last night to ask the BC government to bring a new mandate to the provincial bargaining table with teachers. Teachers are seeking increases to keep up with inflation and to catch up with other provinces in Canada. The government has refused to discuss

One of the aspects of the “BC education plan” most touted by the government recently is the notion of grouping students by ability, rather than age. A quick perusal through the moderators remarks on the government website shows that comments favourable to this viewpoint are highlighted. The topic also made

This week, several teachers came to the provincial bargaining table on behalf of the BCTF to share their experiences teaching in BC. Here are some excerpts from the reports: January 12: The BCTF began the day with a presentation from Sarah Newton, an elementary school teacher from Revelstoke. Her presentation

This week saw the beginning of a new round of public sector bargaining, with most public sector unions entering negotiations for 2012 agreements. The government has already stated their intention to continue the “net zero” mandate through Mandate 2012. The government will only agree to gains if they are “off-set”

The Public Service Employers’ Council (PSEC) recently released the public disclosure of executive compensation for school districts. This comes shortly after we learned in the media that the Greater Victoria Board of Education secretly renewed the contracts of both the Superintendent and the Secretary Treasurer at the last meeting before

BC teachers are in contract negotiations asking for a fair deal. What do we mean by fair exactly? Teachers would like improvements in three areas: class size/composition, salary and benefits, and changes to the bargaining structure. As far as class size, we want only what was taken in 2002. We

 Photograph by Richard Hurd via Flickr How apropo. At noon today, halfway through the first working day of the year, Canada’s top CEO’s had already earned an average worker’s salary. This little statistical nugget seems so emblematic of the year passed, and the year ahead. In 2011, my first blog post was