Wrote to my schools MLA (and similarly to Christy Clark, Peter Fassbender and various cabinet ministers): Mr. Lee: I am a teacher in Burnaby...in fact, I have met you several times at Burnaby North Secondary, when you have visited us to discuss our accomplishments. I am also a parent. I know how important it is for our children to be in school. My daughter should be starting Grade 11 on Tuesday. I am appealing to you, as a member of the Liberal government, to step in with your colleagues to end the dispute with teachers. We both know that this strike and lock out is NOT about salaries and personal benefits for teachers--the sides have been within 1% of each other for months now. This dispute is about the continued underfunding of education. Just this past year, my district, Burnaby, has had to cut millions from its budget. This has resulted in a degradation of the educational programs, lowered morale in the schools, and most importantly, less support for exceptional learners. British Columbia is a well-off province--we seem to find millions and even billions for projects that the government favours. Our public education system, which is very competitive internationally, requires our investment. Please ask your colleagues to come to the table with some increased funding for education--funding that wont go into improving teachers salary and benefits, but that will be used to support students in the classroom with lowered class sizes and adequate learning support. The teachers have compromised (even if we get the 8% increase we are asking for, we will still be over 25% behind inflation since 1998), and so should you. Lets get schools back in session this week, as they should be. -Donna Morgan.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 16:41:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015