CLASS-SIZE AND COMPOSITION WIN
Arbitrator James Dorsey has ruled that teachers of classes included in the 2006-08 class-size composition grievances should be compensated through the provision of release time to 20 teachers whose classes were found to be in breach of the legislation governing class size and composition.
Violations of process, as well as limits, were identified in his ruling, and underfunding was dismissed as an excuse for not following process or meeting the limits.
The BCTF will now proceed with preparations for resolution of the remaining 2006-08 grievances and going forward with those for 2008-09 and 2009-10.
*****
THE FSA SEASON
An agreement has been reached between the BCTF and the employer (BCPSEA) on the distribution of FSA materials by teachers to parents. The agreement states that teachers and locals can send home three pamphlets informing parents of BCTF concerns and positions on the FSA and provincial testing.
To view the pamphlets, go to the BCTF home page and the first news item has the links: www.bctf.ca
*****
FEWER STUDENTS WRITE THE FSAS
Participation rates for the FSA dropped in 2008-09.
To view the latest FSA statistics, go to the ministry website at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/assessment/fsa/welcome.htm
*****
EMERGING DIFFICULTIES WITH THE COLLEGE
Recent meetings between the BCTF and the BC College of Teachers (BCCT) have highlighted some developing issues that are of increasing concern.
Topping the list is a move to change the college constitution, processes, and procedures, and pressure government to change the Teaching Profession Act in order to secure what it views as further independence by precluding the BCTF from endorsing candidates and restricting communication between college councillors and members on college issues.
Despite having a surplus of close to $2 million, the college is considering a proposal for a significant fee increase for additional staff and the purchase of a new building.
*****
YET ANOTHER DOWNLOAD
The provincial government has yet again thrown a wrench into school board budgets with another funding cut. This time it is to money used for covering the real cost of teacher salaries in a district. The "salary differential" as it is known, provides for the fact that districts have different teacher salary costs depending on how many younger (cheaper) and older (more expensive) teachers are employed. The impact of the salary differential is that a board can hire a teacher without basing their decision primarily on the cost of the teacher.
*****
A LIVING WAGE FOR FAMILIES
Closely related to the prevalence of poverty is the persistence of the provincial government in holding the minimum wage at $8 per hour. Although a relatively small group of employees are affected, a much larger group is earning less than $10 an hour. How can anyone be expected to support themselves, much less a family on such paltry earnings?
Access to a bare-bones existence has been calculated to require close to $17 an hour in metropolitan areas such as Victoria and Vancouver. There are only minor variations for other areas of the province.
The frustration of working harder only to fall further behind is one many Canadians can relate to. Recent research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that most families are taking home a smaller share of the economic pie despite working longer hours, getting more education, and contributing to what was, until recently, a growing economy.
http://livingwageforfamilies.ca
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Australian teachers to boycott school tests in protest (English News Service, Tue Jan 19 2010)
Australian public school teachers voted on Tuesday to boycott national literacy and numeracy tests unless the government changes its plans to publish the results online.
Australian Education Minister Julia Gillard is refusing to back away from the government's plans and has not ruled out taking action against the union under industrial relations laws if it bans the tests.
At the Australian Education Union's annual federal conference, delegates voted not to cooperate with implementing the next round of NAPLAN tests in May.
The Australian federal government wants to publish the results on its My Schools website live from next week in order to rank the performance of schools around the country.
The union's federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said the boycott aims to protect disadvantaged students and schools from the "damaging effects" of the rankings.
"Schools in disadvantaged areas will be publicly branded as failing schools."
"That unfair branding has a damaging impact on students, teachers and parents and makes the job of addressing disadvantage much harder." he said.
However, Gillard denied the website will create a league table and said the government will not change its mind.
"I want to make very clear my determination, these transparency measures will go ahead," she said.
"Banning national testing would be bad for students, bad for parents and bad for the future of education in this country."
Australian Education Minister Julia Gillard is refusing to back away from the government's plans and has not ruled out taking action against the union under industrial relations laws if it bans the tests.
At the Australian Education Union's annual federal conference, delegates voted not to cooperate with implementing the next round of NAPLAN tests in May.
The Australian federal government wants to publish the results on its My Schools website live from next week in order to rank the performance of schools around the country.
The union's federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said the boycott aims to protect disadvantaged students and schools from the "damaging effects" of the rankings.
"Schools in disadvantaged areas will be publicly branded as failing schools."
"That unfair branding has a damaging impact on students, teachers and parents and makes the job of addressing disadvantage much harder." he said.
However, Gillard denied the website will create a league table and said the government will not change its mind.
"I want to make very clear my determination, these transparency measures will go ahead," she said.
"Banning national testing would be bad for students, bad for parents and bad for the future of education in this country."
Monday, January 18, 2010
Staffing stats.... we need more supervision !
From the ministry of education (March 2009 Students Statistics, 2004/5 - 2008/9: District 005)...
Topic [04-05] [08-09]
# students [6064] [5543]
FTE [5814.1] [5398.8]
non-resident students [5] [58]
FTE [4.5] [57.9]
Spec Ed. [654] [578]
Educators (#) [330] [329]
Educators (FTE) [302.8] [305.5]
P/VP/District admin (#) [30] [34]
P/VP/District admin (FTE) [29.5] [33.1]
Humm, the number of children we teach is down 7% since 2004/5, the number of educators, is up nearly 1%, and the number of principals/ vice-principals and district admin is up 12% (comparing FTEs).... gee the growth seems to be in the area of supervision and accountability paper shuffling, not teaching!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Teachers awarded up to nine extra paid days off; Four districts ignored ministry rules on class sizes and special-needs kids, arbitrator rules
(Vancouver Sun, Tue Jan 12 2010, Janet Steffenhagen)
School districts that were found to have violated B.C. law about class size and composition in 2006-07 and 2007-08 have been ordered to compensate teachers by giving them paid days off.
In a ruling released Monday, arbitrator James Dorsey said teachers deserve compensation because they carried the burden when districts ignored the rules in creating classes with more than 30 students and/or more than three pupils with special needs.
He ordered Vancouver, Saanich, Qualicum and Coast Mountains to grant release time, or pay in lieu, ranging from one day to nine days, to 21 teachers.
Although the ruling deals with only a small number of complaints, the B.C. Teachers' Federation said it is significant because it will be used to settle thousands of similar grievances filed against other districts that the union says have flouted class size and composition rules since they were introduced in 2006 as Bill 33.
"This is a win for teachers, classrooms and learning conditions in schools," BCTF vice-president Susan Lambert said in an interview. "What Dorsey is saying is that boards will be held accountable for the legislative limits in Bill 33."
Dorsey also signalled that tight budgets can't be used as an excuse to skirt the rules.
The B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which represents boards of education in labour matters, said the decision provides guidance about redress and will be discussed next week when the parties meet to consider the remaining grievances.
The association also noted in a statement to members that it wasn't a full win for the BCTF because Dorsey didn't back the union's request for compensation for its locals.
Dorsey's ruling followed 54 days of hearings on a few dozen cases that were considered representative of the larger issue in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Since then, the union has filed blanket grievances for 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Lambert said the time and money required to resolve the grievances show the dysfunction of Bill 33. She predicted hundreds of other teachers will also be given compensation as remaining disputes are settled.
In his 74-page decision, Dorsey said teachers have a right to expect to be assigned to a class that meets class size and composition standards.
When the rules are not followed, "the burden of the breach is primarily borne by the teacher(s) of the class, not the principal, superintendent, trustees or even individual students," he says.
If there isn't enough money to meet Bill 33 standards, the government should retract them and "explain to parents and teachers why the standards are no longer desirable or achievable," the ruling states.
The BCTF has been protesting classes that are too large and contain too many unsupported special-needs children since 2002, when the government stripped the union of its ability to negotiate caps at the bargaining table.
That resulted in an increase in class size and composition complaints, which helped fuel a 10-day teacher strike in 2005. To ease the problem, the Liberals introduced Bill 33, which set a limit of 30 students in Grades 4-12 but allowed classes to exceed that maximum if the superintendent and principal agreed it would not hurt learning conditions.
Teacher approval is required for larger classes for Grades 4-7 but not for secondary school.
School districts that were found to have violated B.C. law about class size and composition in 2006-07 and 2007-08 have been ordered to compensate teachers by giving them paid days off.
In a ruling released Monday, arbitrator James Dorsey said teachers deserve compensation because they carried the burden when districts ignored the rules in creating classes with more than 30 students and/or more than three pupils with special needs.
He ordered Vancouver, Saanich, Qualicum and Coast Mountains to grant release time, or pay in lieu, ranging from one day to nine days, to 21 teachers.
Although the ruling deals with only a small number of complaints, the B.C. Teachers' Federation said it is significant because it will be used to settle thousands of similar grievances filed against other districts that the union says have flouted class size and composition rules since they were introduced in 2006 as Bill 33.
"This is a win for teachers, classrooms and learning conditions in schools," BCTF vice-president Susan Lambert said in an interview. "What Dorsey is saying is that boards will be held accountable for the legislative limits in Bill 33."
Dorsey also signalled that tight budgets can't be used as an excuse to skirt the rules.
The B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which represents boards of education in labour matters, said the decision provides guidance about redress and will be discussed next week when the parties meet to consider the remaining grievances.
The association also noted in a statement to members that it wasn't a full win for the BCTF because Dorsey didn't back the union's request for compensation for its locals.
Dorsey's ruling followed 54 days of hearings on a few dozen cases that were considered representative of the larger issue in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Since then, the union has filed blanket grievances for 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Lambert said the time and money required to resolve the grievances show the dysfunction of Bill 33. She predicted hundreds of other teachers will also be given compensation as remaining disputes are settled.
In his 74-page decision, Dorsey said teachers have a right to expect to be assigned to a class that meets class size and composition standards.
When the rules are not followed, "the burden of the breach is primarily borne by the teacher(s) of the class, not the principal, superintendent, trustees or even individual students," he says.
If there isn't enough money to meet Bill 33 standards, the government should retract them and "explain to parents and teachers why the standards are no longer desirable or achievable," the ruling states.
The BCTF has been protesting classes that are too large and contain too many unsupported special-needs children since 2002, when the government stripped the union of its ability to negotiate caps at the bargaining table.
That resulted in an increase in class size and composition complaints, which helped fuel a 10-day teacher strike in 2005. To ease the problem, the Liberals introduced Bill 33, which set a limit of 30 students in Grades 4-12 but allowed classes to exceed that maximum if the superintendent and principal agreed it would not hurt learning conditions.
Teacher approval is required for larger classes for Grades 4-7 but not for secondary school.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
School Districts with money woes.....
I thought I'd do a quick list of School Districts that have been in the news because of current or pending money shortfalls (including declining enrollment), but the list got too long. See the newsletter for details....
Burnaby, Boundary (SD20), Kamloops, Lake Cowichan, Maple Ridge, Langley, Nanaimo, Fraser-Cascade, Port Alberni, Terrace/Smithers, Cariboo-Chilcotin, Rossland/Trail, Peace River South......
and there are more!
and everyone is talking about the costs associated with all-day Kindergarten.....
Burnaby, Boundary (SD20), Kamloops, Lake Cowichan, Maple Ridge, Langley, Nanaimo, Fraser-Cascade, Port Alberni, Terrace/Smithers, Cariboo-Chilcotin, Rossland/Trail, Peace River South......
and there are more!
and everyone is talking about the costs associated with all-day Kindergarten.....
Monday, January 4, 2010
Deal lets teachers send anti-test pamphlets home with students; Compromise over controversial FSA exams avoids arbitration
from the Vancouver Sun, Tue Dec 22 2009 (Westcoast News), Janet Steffenhagen
A campaign against standardized tests in B.C. public schools is expected to intensify in January as a result of a deal between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and school employers that allows teachers to send three union pamphlets home with students and hand them to parents on school grounds.
The agreement marks a surprising compromise between two parties that have been feuding for years over what union materials teachers are allowed to distribute. That battle heats up around this time of the year in the lead-up to the annual Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA), which tests Grade 4 and 7 students in reading, writing and math.
Those tests are scheduled for Jan. 18 to Feb. 26.
"Common sense prevailed," BCTF vice-president Susan Lambert said of the deal with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association. The deal lasts for one year and effectively ends eight union grievances against districts that had tried recently to stop teachers from disseminating BCTF materials because of alleged inaccuracies.
"I think the process of going to fruitless arbitration and losing . . . over and over again was too costly for them," she added.
The employers' association, which represents boards of education in labour matters, described the agreement as a practical solution to eliminate conflict in districts and end the grievances. "It's an attempt to formalize what the rules are," said chief executive officer Hugh Finlayson, noting there have been many years of litigation over the issue.
Approved for distribution are pamphlets titled What Parents Need to Know, What Parents Need to Know: Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) and Testing? You Bet. Teachers will now decide if they want to distribute them or send them home with students in the required sealed envelopes.
The pamphlets argue that standardized tests force teachers to narrow instruction and "teach to the test," cause anxiety for students and do little to improve achievement. But the main reason the union objects to the FSA is because the results are used by the Fraser Institute every year to rank elementary schools.
The Education Ministry insists the tests are not optional. But the BCTF campaign has drawn down participation rates in recent years -- especially in Vancouver, where one in three students did not write the FSA last year.
The BCTF plans to extend its anti-FSA message in early 2010 with newspaper and radio advertisements in Punjabi, Cantonese and Mandarin for the first time in order to reach ethnic groups that are believed to be more supportive of standardized tests.
Arbitrators have ruled that teachers have a right to engage in political discussions with parents on educational issues. Lambert said they also have a responsibility to inform parents of their professional concerns about testing.
The BCTF is calling for a two-year moratorium on the FSA and provincial exams to allow stakeholders to discuss better ways of assessment and accountability.
A campaign against standardized tests in B.C. public schools is expected to intensify in January as a result of a deal between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and school employers that allows teachers to send three union pamphlets home with students and hand them to parents on school grounds.
The agreement marks a surprising compromise between two parties that have been feuding for years over what union materials teachers are allowed to distribute. That battle heats up around this time of the year in the lead-up to the annual Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA), which tests Grade 4 and 7 students in reading, writing and math.
Those tests are scheduled for Jan. 18 to Feb. 26.
"Common sense prevailed," BCTF vice-president Susan Lambert said of the deal with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association. The deal lasts for one year and effectively ends eight union grievances against districts that had tried recently to stop teachers from disseminating BCTF materials because of alleged inaccuracies.
"I think the process of going to fruitless arbitration and losing . . . over and over again was too costly for them," she added.
The employers' association, which represents boards of education in labour matters, described the agreement as a practical solution to eliminate conflict in districts and end the grievances. "It's an attempt to formalize what the rules are," said chief executive officer Hugh Finlayson, noting there have been many years of litigation over the issue.
Approved for distribution are pamphlets titled What Parents Need to Know, What Parents Need to Know: Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) and Testing? You Bet. Teachers will now decide if they want to distribute them or send them home with students in the required sealed envelopes.
The pamphlets argue that standardized tests force teachers to narrow instruction and "teach to the test," cause anxiety for students and do little to improve achievement. But the main reason the union objects to the FSA is because the results are used by the Fraser Institute every year to rank elementary schools.
The Education Ministry insists the tests are not optional. But the BCTF campaign has drawn down participation rates in recent years -- especially in Vancouver, where one in three students did not write the FSA last year.
The BCTF plans to extend its anti-FSA message in early 2010 with newspaper and radio advertisements in Punjabi, Cantonese and Mandarin for the first time in order to reach ethnic groups that are believed to be more supportive of standardized tests.
Arbitrators have ruled that teachers have a right to engage in political discussions with parents on educational issues. Lambert said they also have a responsibility to inform parents of their professional concerns about testing.
The BCTF is calling for a two-year moratorium on the FSA and provincial exams to allow stakeholders to discuss better ways of assessment and accountability.
Government cancels literacy grant for schools
from the Vancouver Sun, Fri Dec 18 2009, Janet Steffenhagen.
B.C. schools have lost another government grant.
Vancouver district officials say they were told last week the Education Ministry has cancelled the literacy innovation grant, which contributed $204,000 to Vancouver schools and $5 million to schools provincewide.
"These funds have provided direct staffing support to some of our most vulnerable schools to support the district's focus on literacy," Vancouver's management team said in a report to school trustees. Just last spring, the ministry told managers the grant was safe, the report says. The grant is one of several cancelled this fall.
B.C. schools have lost another government grant.
Vancouver district officials say they were told last week the Education Ministry has cancelled the literacy innovation grant, which contributed $204,000 to Vancouver schools and $5 million to schools provincewide.
"These funds have provided direct staffing support to some of our most vulnerable schools to support the district's focus on literacy," Vancouver's management team said in a report to school trustees. Just last spring, the ministry told managers the grant was safe, the report says. The grant is one of several cancelled this fall.
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