Dear Editor:
We are alarmed at how quickly educators have lost their status as professional members of our society. It began with the dissolution of the College of Teachers. While the College of Teachers was not perfect in its mandate to supervise its members, it had made significant contributions to education in credentialing teachers and investigating complaints against teachers. As a profession, it is the right of educators to handle their professional affairs independent of government.
The dissolution of the College of Teachers was followed by the publication of the B.C. Education Plan. This is a highly flawed document that is not reflective of research in future educational needs and does not address concerns of practicing teachers. The top-down approach to education will make this B.C. Education Plan ineffective. Furthermore, we are appalled by the advertising dollars being spent to promote this plan. The tax dollars for this government self-promotion should be spent on providing adequate classroom resources.
And now we are faced with legislation that not only negates the freedom of teachers to bargain unfettered by government interference, but threatens to dismantle the rights of all government employees to bargain in good faith with their employers. By legislating what can and what cannot be bargained for in a contract, you have made the collective bargaining process a pointless exercise.
We are distressed at the way the government of British Columbia has legislated a loss of professional status for teachers and removed any opportunity for educators to impact teaching and learning. We strongly urge the government to alter this course of action and return to a system of collective bargaining and collaboration that recognizes the ideas and contributions of professional educators.
Sheila Pierce, president, B.C. Executive Board, Delta Kappa Gamma Society in B.C.
