October 17, 2005

No Trust, No Credibility and No Leadership

A few hours after a special prosecutor was appointed to determine whether to begin criminal contempt proceedings in the teachers' dispute, Premier Campbell held a news conference in which he reiterated the government's position while offering nothing new. He failed to offer the leadership that could facilitate the teachers' return to work.

Campbell said that the government shares the teachers' concerns regarding class size and class composition, and that it was prepared to examine the School Act if necessary and, within the framework of the round table on education, look at class composition. A look at what Campbell's government did to strip the teachers' collective agreement shows why those words lack credibility and anger teachers.

On January 26, 2002, during a special weekend sitting of the legislature, then Labour Minister Graham Bruce began second reading debate of Bill 28, the legislation that removed working and learning conditions from the teachers' collective agreement. Bill 12 (2005) extended the contract that was stripped and legislatively imposed in 2002. The first words uttered by the Minister in second reading debate of Bill 28 were: "Mr. Speaker, this bill helps government restore sound fiscal management by increasing operating flexibility in our K-to-12 - kindergarten-to-grade-12 - and college and institute systems." The government knew what it was doing. The school boards had no choice but to increase class sizes and allow unlimited numbers of special needs students in any class in order to help pay for the Campbell government's reckless tax cuts.

When BC's Supreme Court set aside an arbitrator's ruling on the application of Bill 28 to the School Act, the government intervened in 2004 with Bill 19 and overturned the court decision with legislation that said: "For certainty and despite any decision of a court to the contrary made before or after the coming into force of this subsection, nothing in this section is to be construed as authorizing a board or the Provincial union to enter into a collective agreement that includes a provision that is prohibited under section 27 (3) or void under section 27 (2), (5) or (6)." (emphasis added) It looks like the Campbell government picks and chooses which court decisions it will abide.

The government was deceptive on the issue of class size. Bill 28 amended the School Act so as to implement maximum class sizes for grade 3 and below and maximum average class sizes within any school district for the higher grades. Adjustments to class size were no longer required as class composition changed. Setting limits higher than previously permitted under the collective agreement, and using district averages allowed school boards over the two years ending September 30, 2003, to reduce the number of full time equivalent educators (teachers and principals) by 7.19% (2,585) while the number of full time equivalent students decreased by only 1.97% (11,555).

The debate is not over ending the policy of integrating special needs students; it is important for all students to learn together, as they will work together in the same communities for the rest of their lives. For an integrated class to be successful, and fair to all students, necessary resources have to be provided. Christy Clark was Minister of Education when Bill 28 was rammed through the legislature during a special weekend sitting even though the government enjoyed a 77 to 2 majority. Clark specifically addressed and defended eliminating provisions that saw a reduction in class size as the number of special needs students increased. It was hard enough under the system which didn't provide resources for children who had not yet been tested, or for children whose special needs weren't recognized, but at least the system made an effort to make some adjustments when class composition changed resulting in less individual student attention. The position of the Campbell government in 2002 was that those matters did not belong in collective bargaining but in the School Act and with the administrative decisions of trustees, superintendents and administrators. Those are players who took that power and, under budget pressure from the Campbell government, changed class composition to the disadvantage of teachers and students, and those are the players the Campbell government insists sit at its round table to resolve the problem with the teachers. The round table, wasn't announced by Education Minister Shirley Bond until October 6th, three days after Bill 12 was tabled in the legislature. Where was the government's concern over class size and composition for the past four years? That's why the appeal Campbell made in his October 17th news conference does not sound truthful to teachers.

The government should have enough confidence in its ability to govern that it can find a resolution to the dispute without using the courts to bankrupt the union and throw its leaders in prison. Hardliners behind the Campbell administration are no doubt calling for precisely that. The distrust that was created over Bill 28 has to be reduced if teachers are going to return to work willingly.