Open letter to the Premier and Minister of Education. You both speak of ‘FAIR’ – If only you understood FAIR… I am proud member of the BC Teachers Federation. You try to make it sound like the BCTF acts in its own interests. I am the BCTF and your depiction is inaccurate and offensive. The BCTF is the most democratic organization imaginable. I can only conclude that you know nothing about teachers, or you choose to attack me for political gain. You claim to seek ‘FAIR’. Fair does not mean equal. Fair has a moral/ethical and not political compass for what is RIGHT and JUST. You are not interested in FAIR. When continually referring to be ‘fair’ to the taxpayers, you neglect to include in that you GAVE AWAY Provincial revenue to corporations in tax cuts. You transferred the tax burden from corporations to individuals. It is UNFAIR that Corporations pay less tax than the entire developed world. Your ideological plan to increase revenue through lower corporate taxes – FAILED. Don’t pretend the only solution is to tax individuals; the FAIR solution is to restore corporate tax revenue. Removing Class Size and Composition contract language ROBBED children hundreds of millions of dollars for 12 years (SO FAR.) The Premier is directly responsible for illegally and UNFAIRLY taking away contract language that has been FAIRLY negotiation and FAIRLY restored by the Supreme Court of BC. The BCTF has been actively negotiating for 18 months. The Premier had the gall to say only the teachers can end this dispute and her Minister of Education REFUSES a solution. If Families were really First and not just political pawns to the Premier, the government would accept arbitration. The government is unwilling to negotiate or arbitrate because (Public) Education is obviously not important in a Family First agenda. The ‘Affordability Zone’ is MIS-DIRECTION – Governments always afford what is important. -- A new roof on BC Place. A new convention center. GIVING 750 MILLION DOLLARS to a USA power company. Fighting Forest Fires is important to protect our forests (and the interests of corporate profits in our forests.) As a society, we must afford our children. It is FAIR to ensure that every student has the best chance of success as a student, in a career and in life. This Government has UNFAIRLY underfunded BC’s education system by $1000 per student per year. The number one predictor of student success in classrooms is the teacher. The number one predictor of the effectiveness of the teacher is smaller class sizes. It is UNFAIR that an entire generation of K -12 students have already suffered lack of specialists, smaller classes and specialist teachers from CHRONIC underfunding. Your desire to eliminate (AGAIN) class size and composition language is shameful and directly harms students – THAT IS UNFAIR. BC Teachers are among the lowest paid in Canada and have the highest costs of living – UNFAIR. We willingly negotiate for students learning opportunities (at the expense of their own wages)? In return, teachers received 0% for the last three years. To be FAIR, BC teachers should be paid similarly to other teachers in Canada. How as an outsider to teaching can you think you have a better way to organize and support students? You ignore the expertise of 41 000 members with an average of 15 years experience or over 600 000 years of expertise. Who knows classrooms better, you or teachers? Public funds should be for Public Schools. If Public Schools were fully funded, the only perceived advantage to Private Schools would be elitism or religious beliefs. Elitism is NOT FAIR. If every elected official was required to use Public Education, I guarantee government would FAIRLY invest in our Public Schools (and other public services.) You continually claim to want to be ‘fair.’ The reality is that you only want to use the word fair when it suits your political gain. If you really want FAIRNESS: • Respect the TWO court cases that respect contract language and constitutional rights. • Invest $1000 per student into the education system to fund at the National AVERAGE. • Pay teachers equitably with their teaching peers across Canada. • Shift the tax burden from the citizens of BC by restoring corporate tax levels to 2001. • And stop starving schools districts with downloading increased costs the Province imposed such as BC Hydro, ICBC, and Capital construction. I would love to see this government actually be FAIR to Public Education in BC. Sincerely, Kevin Amboe I am the BCTF !!!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 06:05:27 +0000
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