A plan for better schools in BC
by Jim Iker, BCTF President-elect
This article was published in The Vancouver Sun, April 26, 2013.
British Columbians should be very proud of our public education system. Teachers and other educators work hard to help B.C.’s children gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to take on the world. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s teachers, doctors, engineers, and loggers. They deserve a government that will invest in their education to ensure B.C.’s social fabric and economy stay strong. More...
International solidarity from BC teachers touches lives in Salvadoran classrooms
April 17, 2013
Almost 100 proud Salvadoran teachers crossed the stage Tuesday to receive their diplomas in Non Sexist and Inclusive Education, a groundbreaking new program created by the Salvadoran teachers´ union ANDES, with support from the BCTF and CoDevelopment Canada. More...
Two years later, teachers are still seeking redress for rights’ violations
April 12, 2013
April 13 marks two years since the BC Supreme Court’s landmark decision ruling that legislation the BC Liberals enacted in 2002 violated teachers’ Charter rights, and therefore is unconstitutional and invalid. More...
PSA membership now online
April 2, 2013
Looking to join one of the BCTF’s 33 Provincial Specialist Associations? For the first time, you can now register or renew your membership online. Our PSAs engage teachers in valuable professional development and serve as channels for members to exchange ideas on research, teaching strategies, curriculum development, and other shared interests. Join a PSA now.
Teachers call for conflict-of-interest regulations for school district officials
March 19, 2013
Worried about increasing encroachment of private interests in public education, delegates at the Annual General Meeting of the BC Teachers’ Federation have voted to call on the provincial government to establish conflict-of-interest regulations governing school district dealings with corporations. More...
Lambert to step down, new leaders to take helm of BCTF
March 18, 2013
At the end of this school year, Jim Iker, an elementary teacher from Burns Lake in northern BC, will take over from current BCTF President Susan Lambert as leader of the 41,000-member BC Teachers’ Federation. More...
Aboriginal activist affirms teachers’ role in helping students fulfill their dreams
March 18, 2013
In a keynote address Sunday that brought tears to the eyes of many at the BC Teachers’ Federation Annual General Meeting, Mi’kmaq lawyer and comedian Candy Palmater described the powerful and enduring legacy of teachers who encouraged her to overcome significant obstacles in her life. More...
Teachers tackle funding, bargaining, election issues and more at AGM
March 15, 2012
After a decade of cuts, BC now ranks last in Canada on seven key measures of education funding, according to the latest Statistics Canada data. Per-student funding in BC is almost $1,000 below the national average. More...
97th BCTF Annual General Meeting upcoming
March 8, 2013
About 700 teachers from across BC will gather at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver between March 16 and 19, 2013 for the 97th Annual General Meeting of the BC Teachers’ Federation. Delegates will address a wide range of issues including underfunding of public education, teacher collective bargaining, political action, Aboriginal education, privatization and commercialization in schools, health and welfare of students and teachers, and much more. Details of the agenda can be found here.
BC Budget 2013 offers no help for cash-starved school system
February 19, 2012
With the education budget frozen for another three years, BC schools will get no relief from chronic underfunding. Once again this year, block funding for public education is flat at $4.7 billion even as costs rise significantly across the system. More...
Throne Speech ignores real needs in classrooms
February 12, 2013
Teachers are concerned that the dire needs in public education are being ignored by the BC Liberals, even as they prepare to intervene once again in the collective bargaining process.
In today’s pre-election Throne Speech the government called for labour peace in BC schools, but offered nothing to deal with the consequences of a previous decade of underfunding. More...
Teachers ratify framework agreement on bargaining process
January 26, 2013
Members of the BC Teachers’ Federation Representative Assembly have voted unanimously to ratify the Framework Agreement on the 2013 round of collective bargaining reached with the BC Public School Employers’ Association. More...
Premier’s plan for 10-year deal ignores court rulings, again
January 24, 2013
Premier Christy Clark’s proposed plan for a 10-year deal with public school teachers ignores court rulings, contradicts government’s own legislation, and risks scuttling a positive bargaining framework on the eve of its expected ratification by the BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC Public School Employers’ Association. More...
Parents can withdraw children from FSA
January 8, 2013
In recent years, BC teachers have been encouraging parents to withdraw children in Grades 4 and 7 from the annual Foundation Skills Assessments because they are both educationally unsound and socially damaging. The FSA comprises four and a half hours of standardized tests that don’t provide accurate assessments of individual student performance. Even worse, FSA data are misused by the Fraser Institute to produce their spurious elementary school rankings.
NDP leader Adrian Dix has long said that if his party forms government they will do away with the FSAs and work with teachers and other education partners to develop an appropriate replacement. The BCTF welcomes this position, and the BC School Trustees Association recently passed a motion endorsing a similar course of action.
Meanwhile, the testing will begin later this month in schools across BC. Here's a letter that parents can use to request withdrawal of their children from the FSAs.
School boards resist latest cost-cutting demand
December 19, 2012
Already facing significant downloaded costs, school boards are unhappy with Education Minister Don McRae’s latest demand that by mid-January they find savings to pay for 1.5% wage increases this year and next for support staff under the government’s “Co-operative Gains” mandate.
Trustees in Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, and elsewhere have told Victoria their budgets are already cut to the bone and there’s no way to make additional cuts without impacting classrooms and kids. More...
BC Supreme Court rules teachers’ claims of mercury poisoning must be reheard
December 5, 2012
A long legal struggle by six Cranbrook teachers is one step closer to a just resolution after Tuesday’s BC Supreme Court ruling in their favour.
In 2004 and 2005, six teachers at Mount Baker Secondary School applied to the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) for benefits on the basis of having been poisoned by long-term exposure to mercury in science labs in the school. The mercury levels in their blood were elevated far above normal and they experienced classic symptoms of mercury poisoning including: profound fatigue, headaches, joint pain, respiratory problems, tremors, weight loss, memory loss, insomnia, and irritability.
Nonetheless, the WCB, the WCB Review Division, and the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) dismissed all six claims. More...
It’s time to take action:
119,000 BC children growing up in poverty
November 21, 2012
The 2012 Child Poverty Report Card once again documents British Columbia’s shameful record of broken promises and failure to meet the needs of our province’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
BC’s overall poverty rate of 15.5% is the worst in Canada, and its child poverty rate of 14.3% is the worst of all provinces except Manitoba. In addition, BC has the dismal distinction of having the most unequal distribution of income among rich and poor families with children.
Produced by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC, the report contains 10 fact sheets and 15 recommendations to help end the scourge of child poverty in BC.
Read the full report here.
BCTF Teachers celebrate Supreme Court ruling on special education
November 9, 2012
BCTF President Susan Lambert’s statement on Supreme Court’s Moore v. BC Government (Education). Teachers in BC are grateful to Rick Moore. Rick’s son Jeff and his entire family were tireless and courageous and won a significant victory for all students, not just in BC but all across Canada. Their perseverance and commitment these long years has been inspiring. No family should have to fight so hard to get their children the education they deserve. More...
BC students are short-changed
October 25, 2012
British Columbia scores well below Canadian averages for several key education funding indicators, according to a BCTF brief presented to the Select Standing Committee on Finance. More...
Stop and think about pipeline impacts
October 24, 2012
Concerned citizens throughout BC will be rallying at the offices of their MLAs today, urging them to oppose construction of pipelines across the province. BCTF President Susan Lambert told demonstrators in Victoria this week that we, as a society, need to urgently stop and think about the complexity of this issue. More...
Read the October Teacher online
October 19, 2012
In an effort to save money and reduce our environmental footprint, the October edition of the Teacher will not be printed and only available online. The format is consistent with other digital magazines in which readers can turn pages on a screen and employ a number of other functions that enable individuals to adjust the presentation to suit their needs.
View the October edition of Teacher here.
Teachers create professional learning opportunities province-wide
October 17, 2012
Once again this year, the 33 Provincial Specialist Associations within the BCTF are offering a rich array of learning opportunities for teachers across BC. Through PSAs, teachers exchange ideas on research, teaching strategies, curriculum development, and other shared concerns. The province-wide professional development day is this Friday, October 19, 2012 and most events continue through the weekend. More...
BC students are short-changed
October 5, 2012
British Columbia scores well below Canadian averages for several key education funding indicators, according to a BCTF brief presented to the Select Standing Committee on Finance. More...
Provincial government’s latest try at “gag law” ruled unconstitutional
October 4, 2012
The BC Court of Appeal today has ruled that it’s unconstitutional for the provincial government to impose limits on freedom of political expression prior to an election campaign period.
After its controversial 2008 “gag law” was ruled unconstitutional, the government redrafted its amendments to the Election Act and asked the Appeal Court to rule in advance of bringing them into law. The issue was whether limitations on freedom of political expression before the election campaign period are reasonable and “demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society” as required by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. More...
BC students short-changed compared to elsewhere in Canada
October 1, 2012
British Columbia scores well below Canadian averages for several key education funding indicators, according to a brief to be presented today by the BC Teachers’ Federation to the Select Standing Committee on Finance.
BCTF President Susan Lambert will urge the provincial government to adopt a plan to begin to bring BC’s education funding and services at the very least up to the national average.
“We know these changes will take time, and they will require significant reinvestment in public education,” Lambert said. “While we would obviously like to be above average, it is a realistic goal to begin to move up at least to the Canadian national average in the various indicators of educational effort.” More...
Classroom investments
September 17, 2012
At every level, there’s so much intellectual, physical, and emotional energy invested in making public education great. And there’s so much students, parents, and teachers get back.
Now it's time for government to do its part and give our kids the things they need: smaller classes, more one-on-one time, better resources, and increased support for students with special needs.
See our new TV ad in English, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Punjabi.
Teachers won't accept extra cash for oversized classes
September 4, 2012
As the new school year begins, teachers across BC are anxiously wondering about their classes. How many students will I have? What gifts and challenges will they bring to my classroom? How will I be able to meet their diverse needs?
BC teachers have long advocated for smaller classes so they can give all students the individual attention they need, but this year’s concerns about class size are magnified by Bill 22, says Susan Lambert, president of the BC Teachers’ Federation. More...
Crowds will welcome teacher as he completes 22 marathons against Bill 22
August 29, 2012
Teachers, parents, and other supporters of quality public education will gather at Canada Place at 4:00 p.m. this Friday afternoon to welcome North Vancouver teacher Ian Cunliffe as he crosses the finish line of his amazing 22 marathons against Bill 22.
The teacher-librarian from Canyon Heights Elementary School started his epic trek August 8 in Sparwood, near the Alberta border. Due to torn muscles and strained knees and Achilles tendons, he’ll be walking, not running, most of the last day. “We’re moving forward. The pace might be glacial but, like a glacier, I'm also hoping it will be unstoppable,” he told the North Shore News earlier this week.
Here is Cunliffe’s rough itinerary for Friday, August 31:
- 10:30 a.m. Depart from the Burnaby Teachers’ Association office, 115–3993 Henning Drive. Proceed west on Broadway.
- 2:00 p.m. Arrive at Broadway and Commercial Drive
- 3:00 p.m. Arrive at Broadway and Cambie
- 4:00 p.m. Arrive at Canada Place
Everyone is invited to join us to welcome Ian home and thank him for his enormous effort in standing up for BC students.
BC teacher runs 22 marathons in 22 days against Bill 22
July 26, 2012
His classroom may be closed for the summer, but North Vancouver primary teacher Ian Cunliffe won’t be taking any time off. On August 8, Ian will begin in Sparwood, BC, to run and walk over 1,100 km across British Columbia. An incredible attempt of a marathon a day for 22 days to draw public attention to the decade of staggering cuts to BC public education by the Liberal government. More...
BC teacher runs 22 marathons in 22 days against Bill 22
July 11, 2012
His classroom may be closed for the summer, but North Vancouver primary teacher Ian Cunliffe won’t be taking any time off. On August 8, Ian will begin in Sparwood, BC, to run and walk over 1,100 km across British Columbia. An incredible attempt of a marathon a day for 22 days to draw public attention to the decade of staggering cuts to BC public education by the Liberal government. Follow his journey.