Veteran mediator walks out after both sides far apart
School District 53 chair Marieze Tarr is expressing her worry and frustration that the teachers’ strike is really hurting students who can’t afford to miss anymore class time.
That’s why she’s urging parents to stand up and put pressure on the provincial government and the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF).
“We’re feeling very frustrated. When is this going to end? The uncertainty is the worst for all of us,” Tarr said on Tuesday when students were scheduled to be back in school.
Instead, teachers were walking the picket lines again in Oliver and Osoyoos.
Veteran mediator Vince Ready walked away from talks last weekend because both sides were too far apart to negotiate.
Class size, composition and more support staff remain the key issues in the impasse.
But Tarr said it’s “very sad” that students continue to be caught in the middle.
“I keep thinking about kindergarten students going to school for the first time (but not being able to).”
Tarr said she’s also concerned about Grade 11-12 students who can’t afford to miss another month of academics.
The chair pointed out that younger students lose reading skills when they have been out of school for two months. She acknowledged one parent’s frustration with his child forgetting how to do simple division. Even though the child learned single digit division earlier this year, she began crying when she couldn’t remember how to do it.
“It makes us feel extremely sad, and we have lots of empathy for their (parents’) position.”
Tarr said they also empathize with teachers. “I’m sure they want to get back to the classroom.”
Tarr said the board is urging parents to stand up and be heard.
A rally of parents was planned at Okanagan Falls Elementary School on Tuesday morning. It was uncertain if any rallies were planned for Oliver or Osoyoos.
Tarr said the strike makes it very difficult for the district to move forward with initiatives for the new school year.
She said the board will likely write another letter to both parties to urge them to get back to the negotiating table.
In the meantime, some parents have been scrambling to find daycare for their children. But the government is offering them $40 each day that their child misses school during the labour dispute.
Parents can register for this subsidy online at www.bcparentinfo.ca
Minister of Education Peter Fassbender said he is very disappointed with the deadlock.
“I wish I could tell British Columbians when students will be back in school. But right now, I don’t see any quick or easy solutions.”
Fassbender said the BCTF leadership has stubbornly refused every effort to reach a fair deal.
“They have even refused to give teachers a chance to vote on suspending the pickets while an agreement is mediated.”
Fassbender said legislating an end to the dispute is the wrong thing to do. “It would only keep us on the same dysfunctional treadmill that we’ve been on for the past 30 years.”
The minister said he wants to encourage the BCTF leadership to canvass their members about temporarily suspending their pickets so schools can open and teachers can go to work.
“The gap is much bigger than what the BCTF has been making it out to be, which was that the parties were close on all matters except class size
and composition. Over the past few days, it’s been a very different story
behind closed doors.”
Fassbender said the union’s compensation demands remain nearly double what 150,000 other BC public-sector workers have settled for.
“They even insist on a special $5,000 signing bonus that no one else received.”
Fassbender said it is wrong and misguided for the BCTF leadership to expect a bigger compensation package than all other public-sector workers simply because they are willing to shut down schools.
“Their demands would plunge BC into deficit. No mediator can bridge
that kind of gap.”
Fassbender said the union continues to seek rigid class size numbers and teacher ratios that only increase the number of teachers but won’t necessarily address the actual learning needs of students.
“We are not going to go into debt, we are not going to raise taxes, and we are not going to be flexible with our commitment to be fair and even-handed with all 300,000 BC public-sector workers.”
The government is offering teachers a seven per cent wage increase and guaranteed supports for classroom needs through a Learning Improvement Fund.
Fassbender said the government is offering a guarantee of at least $375 million over five years to address complex classroom needs, and a stronger role for teachers in deciding
how to spend these funds.
Jim Iker, BCTF president, had called on Premier Christy Clark to meet with him to resolve the dispute. But that didn’t happen.
During talks with Ready, the BCTF
trimmed its package by $125 million. “By contrast the BC Public School Employers’ Association did not bring one penny to the table,” Iker said. “Furthermore, the government is demanding a court case escape clause, that would in effect nullify two class size and composition wins in the BC Supreme Court and any future decision in teachers’ favour.”
Iker said the employers’ association didn’t get the job done last weekend, so now it’s up to Clark to step in and get students and teachers back to school.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
