Today will be Education Day in BC with the Premier making an announcement about future relationships with teachers but officially BC school trustees and BC teachers are unaware of the plan even though they participated in consultations.

Apparently a 10 year agreement will be proposed so that teachers would get the right to   key essentials.

• Priority Education Investment Fund to address education priorities
• Education Policy Council that would be comprised of representatives from government, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and BCSTA that would advise the government on education policy
• Indexing of teachers’ compensation to an average of other major public sector increases and a newly structured bargaining process.
• The full right to strike

BCTF president Susan Lambert is already expressing doubts about the plan.

“We haven’t heard a word from government. We haven’t had any discussions with government on this issue,” she said. Lambert says the union submitted a few proposals but has had no dialogue with the province. “I don’t want to negate what might be in the document but it does almost seem like posturing because we have not heard anything about it.”

The Education Ministry says there was no further dialogue to be had after the stakeholders submitted their proposals.

Support Staff budget cuts

Education Minister Don McRae also wrote to all BC school districts yesterday indicating he had heard the message about cost cutting and understands that many board cannot reduce budgets if there is no fat.

McRae: “You have indicated to me quite clearly that in light of budget uncertainties and the time of the district budget processes that savings cannot be generated without either reducing service levels or transferring costs to the public.”

Earlier the minister had asked all school board to reduce the cost of support staff.

Most if not all school districts reacted to this with deep concern.