Dear editor,
I was amazed at the audacity of our opposition party that they would choose the Comox Valley to let loose a stream of exaggerations to teachers re their proposed increase in funding to education.
Don McRae, Minister of Education, and the B.C. Liberal incumbent for the Comox Valley, has worked tirelessly to balance the needs of educators in B.C. with the reality of financial needs for all other sectors of the population. Don is a professional teacher and is very aware of the problems faced in the everyday classroom.
As a former classroom teacher, former administrator and yes, for years a member of my district teachers’ association executive, I have never been happy about being told by the BCTF leadership how to think, what party to follow or how my hard earned BCTF dues were going to be spent other than for professional purposes.
I consider myself a professional not an arm of any government. As a teacher mentor I would hope that teachers are doing their own research just as they expect their own students to do before completing a project. That’s what professionals do.
In the '90s, teachers fought hard to bring in a change of government and when they did nothing changed. Where are the teachers who remember this? It seems as though teachers have their heads down prepared to run into another brick wall.
Change is not always better.
As a classroom teacher, did I want a fully staffed library and assistants in the classroom to help with difficult teaching situations? As an administrator did I want smaller class sizes so that parents were assured of quality education for their children?
Of course, I did. And don’t get me started on the FSA testing brought in by the NDP. Teachers have always wanted better teaching conditions.
But, all any government can do is balance the needs of education with the needs of every other ministry.
I don’t care how many deals have been made with the BCTF, the opposition will discover they cannot follow through with the funding they have promised without compromising other ministries and/or the taxpayer pocket.
Do the math! How is the opposition possibly going to find more dollars than the current government and at the same time remain a fiscally responsible province that will attract the businesses needed, and develop the resources required to increase funding for all?
Be a professional — don’t vote until you do your research.
Janice Cashin,
Comox Valley