A vote by BC teacher’s to drop a contract clause about class size and composition and leave the dispute with the provincial government in the hands of a third party will not mean an end to the strike, whateer the outcome. Prior to the vote, Education Minister Peter Fassbender rejected the proposal for binding arbitration, outright. So, which ever way they voted, teachers continue to struggle financially, but still say class size and composition is a critical issue.
BICS teacher Shelley Courtney says that when the BC government talks about teachers benefits, they are not just talking about medical or dental benefits.
“We have those things,” she says, “But the benefits package also includes the salaries of education assistants, teacher-librarians, and special education teachers. When these benefits are cut, it’s the kids who suffer.”
Courtney says that in her 13 year career as a teacher, she’s seen a big change in education.
“At the beginning of my career there were a lot of kids who got help who, today, would not get that help,” she says. “And the range of kids we have in a classroom is a lot wider, in terms of needs, than it used to be. I’ve heard people say that when they went to school they had classes of thirty kids and they turned out fine. But I ask, where were the kids who had learning disabilities or other special needs? And the answer is that they were in a class down the hall. Now those kids are in my class, with their peers, where they should be, but it makes the job a lot harder, as a teacher.”
Courtney’s husband is also a teacher.
“We’re doing all right,” she says. “We have savings and we have support from our families. And both of us believe in the reasons for this strike – it’s about inclusion. As teachers I think that we know more now than we used to about how to help kids with special needs, the various social and emotional struggles they bring into the classroom, but we cannot help them singlehandedly.”
Tanya Kim teaches in a special resources classroom at Elsie Roy School, in Yaletown. She says that since starting her career with the Vancouver School Board in the year 2000, she’s seen kids be cut off from special help from one year to the next.
“Kids who were diagnosed with Sensory Regulation Disorder – they have a really hard time coping at school because they struggle to regulate their body’s responses to the environment, they’ve been cut off. Or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is another example; that diagnosis doesn’t cut it anymore. Kids who are suffering because of this have to get tested and fit into a whole other category in order to be tested. Teachers in the regular classroom are doing whatever they can to cope.”
Kim says that the BC Supreme Court ruling in January against the government on this issue is an assurance to her that what the teachers are doing is the right thing.
“Justice Susan Griffiths said the government goaded the teachers into a strike,” says Kim. “And when people blame teachers for their kids not being in school, I tell them, this is no ordinary strike, it is about the government trying to get out of a court ruling. The only way they can is if the teachers release them by way of a new contract. I also say that if you don’t like this situation, where some kids get to go to school because their parents can afford it and others can’t, well, that’s what this is about. If you don’t like this situation, you’ve got to fight to protect our public schools.”
Tammy Sanhedrai teaches at BICS, and says she feels like she’s caught between a rock and a hard place without a paycheque, and facing a recommendation by the union to not undertake any work in tutoring or childcare.
“I get why they say that. If teachers are available to help out, parents will get the relief they need and won’t protest the government. But I really think we’re past that point,” she says. “And we’re teachers, that’s our skill. What else are we supposed to do? I know people who’ve applied to work in stores but as soon as the business finds out you’re a teacher, they won’t hire you, because they know you’ll be gone as soon as this is over.”
Sanhedrai says that she is buoyed by the people who go out of their way to show their support for the teachers, but she still encounters a lot of negativity.
“I tell them what it’s like in a classroom, that there could easily be three kids who absolutely cannot work with someone sitting beside them, so they sit there fidgeting and staring into space while the teacher gets the other kids going on their work. Then, 10 minutes before the end of the class the teacher can finally get a pencil into their hands and help them focus enough to do anything, and then the class is over. These kids don’t stand a chance.”
Sanhedrai says that by her estimate, 20 percent of kids in a typical classroom require special help that they’re not getting.
“I thought it was bad, but then it got worse,” says Sanhedrai. “I’d say it was about four years ago there was a drastic change. It used to be that if you had three kids in your class with special needs, you could go to the administration and negotiate. Now I can’t even get kids assessed so that they can say there’s a learning disability and they can get any kind of support.”
Jane Misener says she saw that support dwindle in her time working as special resources teacher at BICS.
“When I first started there were there learning support teachers - myself full time and two other part-time teachers. There is a formula and identified need that admin uses to calculate the number of support teachers. Then there were two of us - myself full time and another lady three days a week. That got cut back to only myself full time about four or five years ago. I believe that Bowen Island Community School has one full-time and part-time teacher today for student support.”
Two years ago, however, Misener moved on to Chartwell School in West Vancouver, near the British Properties.
“We are very lucky in both of these schools there is a high level of parental support and involvement,” she says. “We’ve had parents fundraise to get iPads into the classroom, and that’s great, but they can’t get more bodies into the classrooms. If the BC government would just follow the court ruling there would be six more teachers in the West Vancouver School Board. I don’t think that teachers like making a political stand like this, but we have to because we see the impact of funding cuts.”
