BCPSEA application & job action

Recently, the trustees/government bargaining group (BCSPEA) submitted an application to the Labour Relations Board to deduct 15% pay from teachers in order to balance the job action and put some pressure on the BCTF to give up demands at the bargaining table. I don't support this move. It is crazy to suggest that staff meetings (2 hours/month), supervision (1/2 hour/week), and official report cards (maybe 4-5 hours four times a year) constitute 15% of a teacher's workload. My husband, a teacher, figures that works out to about $250 for a staff meeting. I hope he is getting his money's worth! In reality, teaching is a professional that consumes evenings and weekends, parts of summer and Christmas break, and is focused on the students in class, a passion for their subject, and not the meetings or the hallway supervision. As a parent, I've been able to meet with my child's teacher, and my teacher is no less busy preparing and teaching her class. She has to find her own time to offer a recess break, and supervise it herself outside of the school's regular supervision schedule. This article helps tell the story a little better than I can.