Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 10 | Page 5

May 16 - 31, 2017 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY  11955 8th Avenue, Delta, BC www.lamezagrill.com 604 501 604 0963 501 0963 11955 88th Avenue, Delta, BC • 604 501 0963 BCTF calls on incoming gov’t. to act on teachers’ Supreme Court win The incoming government, no matter which parties are at the helm, needs to speed up the pace of implementing contract language that will mean smaller classes and more support for students with special needs, in accordance with the teachers’ Supreme Court of Canada win, said BCTF President Glen Hansman. “When teachers won at the Su- preme Court of Canada and then successfully negotiated an imple- mentation agreement, most Brit- ish Columbians-teachers included- thought the issue was finally set- tled,” said Hansman. “However, in too many school dis- tricts across the prov- ince the pace of imple- mentation is too slow. In some extreme cas- es, district leadership is being obstruction- ist. Teachers, parents, and students need the incoming government to act quickly and de- cisively to direct school districts to fulfill their side of the agreement. “After 15 years of advocating for better working and learning conditions in our schools, British Columbians rightfully expect the next school year to start with smaller classes and better support for children with special needs. However, the current pace of work, uncertain funding, and obstruction tactics by some district managers is putting the successful start of the next school year at risk.” Hansman emphasized that implementation work between BCTF local associations and school boards has been going well in many areas of the province. For example, in Prince George, the dis- trict reopened a previously closed school and reorganized catchment areas to increase the number of classrooms and meet the needs of students according to the restored contract language. “If other school boards need funding for more portables or to re- open closed schools, those trustees need to be pushing government to get that funding,” said Hansman. By contrast, too many other districts are deliberately and inex- plicably holding up the process. In other areas, school districts are not getting the full funding, as prom- ised by government, to meet the operational and capital costs of implementing smaller classes and higher support levels for children with special needs. Hansman listed some of the problems being reported across BC: • In Victoria and many other communities, school board trust- ees are not moving quickly enough to reopen closed schools or adjust catchment areas to accommodate more classrooms. • In Surrey, the school district is try- ing to use shortcuts around the collective agreement language to make cuts to im- portant positions like Learning Support Teachers. • In Vernon and other communi- ties, district leader- ship is trying to rewrite historic definitions of special needs designa- tions to reduce the level of extra support needed. • In Comox, Port Alberni, and other towns, district management is withholding crucial data about student populations and their spe- cific needs, making it impossible to plan for proper class size and composition. • In Vancouver, where elect- ed school board trustees were re- placed by a sole government rep- resentative, management seems to be focused on violating the col- lective agreement and relying on remedies instead of filling empty classroom spaces, which will re- sult in hundreds of classes not in compliance with the restored lan- guage.  “The incoming government needs to provide immediate direc- tion to school districts, and the nec- essary funding, to quickly get this implementation process wrapped up so the class organization pro- cess can be completed as soon as possible,” Hansman said. “BC kids have waited long enough.”● • www.lamezagrill.com • lamezagrill YOU’RE READY You have energy, drive, and enthusiasm. We have training, support and a proven system to help you succeed as a Sun Life Financial advisor. We’re ready and waiting to meet you. This could be the start of something great! Criselda Flores Sales Manager 604-219-6886 [email protected] www.sunlife.ca/criselda.flores Mutual funds distributed by Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. Sun Life Financial advisors are contracted with Sun Life Financial Distributors (Canada) Inc. registered in Quebec as a financial services firm. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies. © Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2017. A2441-E-05-16 WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM