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Greater Victoria Teachers Association


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#21 spanky123

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 05:33 PM

I haven't been following this issue closely enough I guess. If they are ARRESTING teachers, I need to modify my views.


I don't follow either. Why should I be concerned about the loss of collective bargaining rights? I don't believe that the next step will be to limit voter rights or human rights but I could be wrong.

#22 spanky123

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 05:35 PM

The upcoming job action is NOT about getting more money in teachers' pockets, of that I have become quite convinced. What's really at stake now is a challenge to free and collective bargaining, and that's something that should concern everyone.


I am not a teacher and I don't claim to understand all of the issues. I suspect however that if the Government said that they would agree to all other issues but keep wage increases at the same rate as all other Government unions then the teachers would still strike.

#23 CarlonCouncil

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 06:24 PM

I never understood why no one is complaining about the job done by School Boards and School District superintendents. If the government is not providing the money you need, figure out a way to raise it otherwise.

All the universities and private schools have major fundraising campaigns. I know of no school districts that are doing that.

I would give to the School District if asked and given a tax receipt.


@Bernard - Central Saanich had Grant in Aid funding requests this year from SD#63 for playground funding as well as the Stelly's PAC.

It would appear that some segments of the school district are looking beyond provincial funding. I know that the Brentwood Elementary PAC has an extensive list of fundraising activities scheduled throughout the school year.

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#24 Nparker

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 07:21 PM

...I suspect however that if the Government said that they would agree to all other issues but keep wage increases at the same rate as all other Government unions then the teachers would still strike.


I suspect your suspicions would be wrong. Nobody ever wants to strike. But keep on believing what the Liberals are saying. I mean it's not like they have ever lied about anything before.

#25 Robb

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 08:03 PM

Here's a podcast that I found very interesting; on the subject of a good teacher's economic value:

NPR's Planet Money, The Tuesday Podcast: How Much Is A Good Teacher Worth?

#26 spanky123

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 08:12 PM

I suspect your suspicions would be wrong. Nobody ever wants to strike. But keep on believing what the Liberals are saying. I mean it's not like they have ever lied about anything before.


The BCTF made public their demands for a 15% pay increase, I am not relying on any Liberal propaganda. If the pay increase was not as important as other issues then perhaps the strategy should have been to de-emphasize it.

Many people in the private sector would be happy to have had 0% pay increases over the past 3-4 years. Asking for 15% just makes the BCTF look out of touch with reality and the pain private sector taxpayers have faced.

#27 Sparky

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 10:23 PM

Bless you Spanky

Personally, I know and like a lot of teachers. They are good people.

I was a Parent Advisory Council chair from Elementary, Middle, and High School whilst our daughters were in the system. My mother was the chairman of the school district when I was a boy. She built a school that was sold to a religious cult....under my watch.

There is however a new reality approaching us with regards to educating our young.

It's a bit like the newspaper and railroad business.

Parents will not be able to afford to pay over $80 an hour to have a teacher stand in front of a class of 30 students. Now before you bend yourself out of shape...the teacher does not receive $80....that's the end cost to the taxpayer.

What will happen in the future is "distance education" or "delivered education" and that unfortunately will be the demise of the teacher as we have known them since we needed to be taught how to read and write.

"Any time, any place, any path, any pace."

Online learning is coming whether we like it or not.

The only reason this government still funds the existing antiquated process is that there is nowhere else to park the children during the day when the parents leave their home to go to work. When we build resourse centers to accommodate this change in our way of doing business...you guessed it.....delete teachers and turn up the volume on the big screen.

The kids can learn to read and write as soon as mom and dad are willing to leave the computer on for them.

The teachers need to travel carefully.

#28 Nparker

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 10:33 PM

There is a new reality approaching us with regards to educating our young...What will happen in the future is "distance education" or "delivered education" and that unfortunately will be the demise of the teacher as we have known them...


I will believe this scenario to be true as soon as the paperless office I was told was just around the corner in 1992 comes to pass. Traditional schooling offers much more than the ability to learn how to read, write and add numbers. School teaches us how to be social beings; how to live and interract with our fellow humans. Unless you envision a future where none of us ever leaves the confines of our personal information space, I believe teachers and schools in some form are going to be here for some time yet. And if the future you do prophesize is imminent, then I see a very dim time ahead indeed.

#29 Sparky

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 10:44 PM

Thanks for that. Half of me agrees with you. My other half knows that students are starting to use alternate forms of education.

Bernard...please chime in here and tell us how your youngest son is doing at SIDES?

#30 Sparky

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Posted 02 March 2012 - 11:30 PM

The teachers still need to travel carefully......otherwise they will end up as train conductors.

#31 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 03:11 PM

This must be run by teachers, or administrators. Really, that's the best system you have? First-come-first-served with a 72-hour outdoor line-up? Give me a freaking break. Do a lottery or whatever.

Parents who want to enrol their children in the limited spaces in the school's increasingly popular French immersion program started lining up at the school at 7 a.m. Friday to ensure they were in front of the line when the school begins registration for the program at 8 a.m. Monday.

By 11 a.m., more than 20 parents had joined the line at the school with sleeping bags, tents, propane heaters and other supplies to last for almost three days and the police had to settle the situation after some parents tried to jump the line.


Read more: http://www.canada.co...l#ixzz1o6944X1v
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#32 martini

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 03:41 PM

I never understood why no one is complaining about the job done by School Boards and School District superintendents. If the government is not providing the money you need, figure out a way to raise it otherwise.

All the universities and private schools have major fundraising campaigns. I know of no school districts that are doing that.

I would give to the School District if asked and given a tax receipt.

The key word there is private.
Why should taxpayers have to continually raise money for public education?
Something is wrong there, and I call it adapting to abuse.
No one is complaining about the school districts and supers because they aren't the ones squeezing the schools. It's the ministry that squeezes the districts.

#33 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 03:45 PM

The key word there is private.
Why should taxpayers have to continually raise money for public education?
.


Well, hospitals do it too. And they raise a fortune.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#34 LJ

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 06:49 PM

My only real opinion on this issue is that the large number of people striving to become teachers suggests to me that there is ample supply of people wanting to become teachers even at the supposed "low" present day compensation levels. Friends of mine have given up trying to land teaching gigs after studying to become teachers due to the lack of positions available and huge competition. Given this, I don't support their cry for higher compensation.


They should reduce the pay by 5% a year until they begin to have teacher shortages, I think you could do this for many years.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#35 LJ

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 06:50 PM

For a typical teacher that's 2500 increase a year ending at 7500 three years from now. As a tax payer I would rather give this raise to 800 teachers than pay for a $500000 traffic study of Beacon hill park.


As a taxpayer I would rather do neither.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#36 martini

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Posted 03 March 2012 - 06:51 PM

Well, hospitals do it too. And they raise a fortune.


Well what do you propose then? Charge for parking?
Advertise on desks and lockers?

I don't see how fundraising affects a patient's basic care.

Fundraising should not determine if classrooms have enough textbooks etc.
Or the only way playground equipment can be purchased.

#37 Mike K.

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Posted 04 March 2012 - 08:52 AM

With regards to the comment about the ample supply of teachers, the issue has a lot to do with universities unwilling to admit to potential students that employment opportunities as teachers in this country are limited. Lots of kids go into teaching because the post secondary education system insists things will be different when they graduate or with a particular school's degree they'll stand ahead of the pack.

Now I say for the "most part," as some kids entering education/teaching programs at universities are fully aware of the difficulties ahead of them but they either have family ties to teaching or connections with job prospects.

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#38 Robb

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Posted 04 March 2012 - 09:40 AM

It's my understanding that job opportunities for teachers also vary by region and specialty.

i.e. If you want to teach elementary school in Victoria, good luck getting a job. If you teach high school Science or are willing to work in a more rural area then there is a much greater demand.

So, it's not as simple as there are more applicants than jobs so they should all be paid less.

#39 Mike K.

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Posted 04 March 2012 - 09:43 AM

Yes, that's true, Robb. There are certainly no shortages of employment opportunities in rural and northern Canada.

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#40 Bob Fugger

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Posted 06 March 2012 - 08:34 AM

Pickets are up in front of ICBC downtown, as a symbol of solidarity with the BCTF. ICBC staff are being advised by their union not to cross the picket line. No one can get any word as to whether this is an illegal picket line or if it conforms with the LRB ruling.

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