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B.C. teachers promised more money for big classes
Bill 22 would give some teachers in primary grades $2,500 per student
VANCOUVER — Public-school teachers are being promised financial compensation next year if they have extra-large classes.
A controversial bill now working its way through the legislature would give Grades 4-7 teachers an extra $2,500 a year for every student beyond 30 in their classrooms while secondary school teachers, who teach many courses per day, would receive $312 for every student beyond 30 in their courses, the B.C. Education Ministry told The Vancouver Sun.
Furthermore, the ministry is promising to amend school regulations to require principals to consult with teachers, and teachers to advise principals, on all matters related to classroom organization, including the placement of special-needs students. Those discussions will become “core duties” for principals and teachers, a ministry spokesman said.
Teachers in primary grades won’t be eligible for the compensation because their classes will continue to be capped at a maximum of 22 children in kindergarten and 24 students in Grades 1-3.
Teachers for courses such as band and drama, where large student numbers are sometimes desirable, are also not expected to qualify for additional pay.
The ministry says the extra money for teachers would not only compensate them for an added workload but would encourage school administrators to keep classes at 30 students or fewer in order to control costs.
The challenges of large classes with many special-needs students has been a long-standing concern of B.C. teachers, especially since 2002, when the Liberals stripped their union of its right to bargain class size and composition. Last April, the B.C. Supreme Court found the government had violated teachers’ rights and ordered it to remedy the situation within a year.
Read THE VANCOUVER SUN full article here.
By Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun March 9, 2012
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com
Are Boys and Girls Ready for the Digital Age?
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released the Programme for International Student Assessment’s Report 12, which investigated if boys and girls are ready for the digital age.
Key findings are:
- More than 17% of students in Australia, Korea and New Zealand are top performers in digital reading, while fewer than 3% of students in Austria, Chile and Poland are.
- On average, girls outperform boys in digital reading; however, the gender gap is narrower than it is in print-reading proficiency.
- Among boys and girls with similar levels of proficiency in print reading, boys tend to have stronger digital navigation skills and therefore score higher in digital reading.
Click here to read the full report.
Constitutional and international law at risk under Bill 22
In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government had violated the Canadian Charter by imposing legislative restrictions on the rights of health workers to bargain collectively. In April 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court followed that decision to rule that legislation concerning teachers was unconstitutional, and thereby invalid, because it prohibited bargaining on class size, class composition and the ratios of teachers to students.
It is those very same restrictions that the government now seeks to reinstate with Bill 22, a disturbing disregard for such a recent judicial declaration that they are constitutionally invalid.
Read THE VANCOUVER SUN full article here.
Joel Bakan teaches in the faculty of law at the University of British Columbia.
BCTF promises Bell-to-bell work this week
Union won’t discuss what happens after break
By Janet Steffenhagen with Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun March 8, 2012 5:00 AM
Public school teachers were expected to end their strike and return to their classrooms today, where they will continue the limited job action they began in September and consider future protests against a government bill now working its way through the legislature.
Although they are legally permitted to strike one day a week until Bill 22 is proclaimed, teachers and students in many districts are heading toward a two-week spring break that starts after classes Friday. The union wouldn’t comment Wednesday on what it plans to do next, but said teachers would only work from bell-to-bell this week.
Read THE VANCOUVER SUN full article here.
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com
Facts about the teachers’ contract dispute
Facts about the contract feud between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), backed by the Liberal government:
Salary proposal: The BCTF wants a 15-per-cent wage hike over three years; the BCPSEA and government say teachers, like other provincial government employees, are bound by the net-zero mandate, which means no increased costs.
Proposal’s cost: The BCTF estimates a 15-per-cent salary increase would cost the provincial treasury an extra $560 million over three years; BCPSEA says the bill, compounded over three years, would be closer to $2 billion.
Recent wage increases: In 2002, a deal imposed by the Liberals gave BCTF members a 7.5-per-cent wage hike over three years. (That contract was extended for one year.) In 2006, the union signed a deal with raises ranging from 14 to 21.5 per cent over five years and a signing bonus. That contract expired June 30.
Current pay: The average minimum salary for a B.C. teacher is $48,000; the average maximum salary is $74,000.
Salary comparisons: B.C. pay is either fourth or ninth in the country, depending on whom you ask and whether the rankings include the territories or just the provinces. Last year, a Saskatchewan mediator found that B.C. pay was the lowest in Western Canada.
Read The Vancouver Sun full article here.
By Janet Steffenhagen MARCH 6, 2012
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com