While it’s not surprising, it certainly is disappointing that our provincial government would rather spend money on an arrogant quest to put those upstart teachers in their place than put it towards educating our children.
Of course, the BC Liberal spin on the current situation (as always!) is that they are doing it for the children, while the teachers are only pursuing lazy self-interest.
Conversely, the teachers’ take on the head-butting that has been a hallmark of their relationship with provincial authorities (even when the NDP were in power) has been that they are pushing hard on behalf of their beloved children who populate their classrooms, and that the politicians could not care less about their little charges who are the embodiment of the province’s future.
In this matter, at least, the B.C. Supreme Court has sided with the teachers, even going so far as to slap the government upside the head a bit over its apparent intransigence on the matter of class sizes and unilaterally tearing up legally negotiated contracts and little things like that.
In fact, the rookie BC Liberal government’s contract-tearing exercise in 2002 drew some tsk-tsks from no less than the United Nations.
Yes, 2002. That’s how long this particular war has been going on, with last week’s court ruling the second major battle lost by the province – and won by the teachers – in the ensuing years.
It seems hypocritical for the government to declare (on behalf of taxpayers) that the cost of doing things legally would be outrageous, and then turn around and spend still more money on a court case that it has effectively already lost twice.
Besides, why doesn’t this government do what Education Ministries have done for decades: disregard the correlation between children and the cost of educating them, and tell the school boards to figure it out themselves?
– B.G.