Duncan - I am writing today as a parent and as a teacher. I will cut to the chase here. A major stumbling block to securing a settlement with teachers is a clause in BCPSEA's current "Framework for Settlement" dated June 15.
This clause, E81 (available for anyone to look at on their website), states that if the Supreme Court rules in favour of the BCTF in regards to class size and composition, any contract would be amended to reflect this decision, restoring language that was illegally stripped from the BCTF's 2002 contract.
However, if government is not satisfied with the final ruling of the Supreme Court, either side will have the right to then cancel
that amended contract and begin bargaining anew.
This is the wrench in negotiations. This is the most significant "precondition" to a settlement.
How will this bring stability to our education system? How is this bargaining in "good faith"? The BCTF has not been publicly sharing this information because of their respect for the media blackout. It is, however, available to the public at www.bcpsea.ca.
It is also available to the media, of course. Why have they not been doing their homework and doing some good oldfashioned detective work and reporting instead of relying on easy sound bites and media releases?
Lori Appleton Duncan