EDITOR,Per Paul Demers' column ("Liberals eviscerate public schools," In the Winds, Chief, March 9), teachers are right to gripe about the quality of education when there are 30 students in a classroom, plus special needs. In a class that large, how do we ensure kids don't fall behind? I am 100 per cent in favour of massively upping pay for the best teachers. The benefits that accrue from well-educated adults are incalculable for society. In that sense, no amount of pay is enough.
I emphasize the word "best." At present, we have little to no accountability in our education system in terms of performance and results. Unions being what they are, it is virtually impossible to fire a failing teacher. Teachers move up the pay grade more on seniority than results. Costs for new hires are quite high. The BCTF's opening demands, which included 26 weeks' paid time off to care for "someone" (not necessarily a relative) and having the taxpayer pick up the full cost of teachers' extended health benefits when many if not most of us in the private sector have none at all, seemed particularly egregious. The union has backed off on some of these, but the fact they were even requested highlights the fact that BCTF, like other public sector unions, isn't tuned to the taxpayer reality.
It has become fashionable to blame the Liberals for the entire mess, and they've earned lots of it. But this mess is not theirs alone. Classroom troubles stretch back decades. Mr. Demers wonders where money saved from years of salary freezes went: about a half billion left for Abu Dhabi recently in the form of three mothballed fast ferries the NDP squandered tax money on. Swapping one band of thieves for another won't fix this.
I am quite willing to pay whatever extra taxes are required to compensate the best teachers, but I am not prepared to give a blanket 15 per cent increase to all with no assurance on quality of results. The class-size arguments resonate with me, but even when they were lower, we were still graduating students who could not spell or form proper sentences. As for those who are calling for more education money, how did you vote on the HST? I was willing to put up with an extra $10 on my groceries if it meant lower class sizes and better pay for the best teachers, but it appears a majority of us weren't. How typical!
Brad Hodge
Brackendale
