Government to appeal ruling on bargaining of class sizes
NEWS — The provincial government will appeal a B.C. Supreme Court decision that says the bargaining rights of B.C.’s teachers were violated.
Justice Susan Griffin awarded the B.C. Teachers Federation $2 million in the Jan. 27 decision, saying the government was out of line when it took teachers’ right to bargain class size and composition out of their contract in 2002.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender announced today the appeal is based on the need to protect the education of students.
“The case focused on public-sector union bargaining rights and Justice Griffin’s interpretation of how these rights limit the ability of elected governments to set education policy. The judge centred on the union’s interest, not students’ needs,” Fassbender said.
He the government must balance teachers’ interests with “the best interests of students, their families, and the 4.6 million British Columbians who already invest nearly $5 billion into the K-12 education every year.”
He called the judgment “completely unaffordable for taxpayers. It would create huge disruptions in our schools and, most importantly, it will prevent districts from providing the right mix of supports that our students actually need.”
Griffin’s ruling came up at Monday night’s Kamloops-Thompson board of education meeting as trustees discussed controversial changes to school boundaries aimed at balancing student populations in various schools.
Trustee Gerald Watson asked if the ruling could have an impact on those plans.
“If we need more classroom teachers we will need more classrooms,” said superintendent Terry Sullivan.
Fassbender said average class sizes are near historical lows of 19.3 students for kindergarten, 21.5 for grades 1 to 3, 25.7 for grades 4 to 7, and 23.0 for grades 8 to 12. In 1970 the average class size was 42.
“The union, however, is seeking to further reduce teacher workload and manage classrooms through rigid and costly formulas and ratios that have no material bearing on the actual needs of students in the classroom.
“No other jurisdictions in Canada face these types of restrictions on school organization.”
He said the government’s goal remains a 10-year agreement. “Class size and composition are on the bargaining table, and that is where the discussion needs to occur.”
Bargaining is expected to resume this week.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
As I have written in letters and said many times “The B.C. Liberal government thought that a teachers strike would give it a political advantage, Justice Griffin found, and this mindset set bargaining up for failure and made disruption in the public-school system inevitable.” Every election the liberals pick a fight with teachers and unfortunately the BCTF public relations are so poor that they get into a no win situation and fight a losing battle. This government did not care about children or education or winning the battle to better educate children, what they wanted was disruption and a public relations win at which they are very good. The government blamed the teachers for the disruption, which the parents believed. They won the public relations battle at the expense of students and the system. Do parents care now that the government used them and their children and now will use them again by paying some $2 million in fines? No! What is sad about this is that many administrators joined in this teacher bashing. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/analysis-court-ruling-a-major-blow-to-clarks-strategy-with-teachers/article16536749/
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I am from vancouver and I support the teachers in their fight against the reactionary,right wing B.C. government. Without the B.C. Teachers Federation the education system here would be in shambles. All people here should support the teachers in this important fight. The B.C. government is a hindrance to progress in education here in BC.
This needs to stop before it gets worse than what it is. The teachers are doing their part to improve education. It is the B.C. government that is lowering the quality of education here. Shame on them. They want to return to the education system of the 19th century.
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