To the Editor;
Nanaimo school district trustees have resorted to a desperate cost-savings measure the school board opposed in principle and practice for the past decade or more. The school calendar for 2015-16 now includes a two-week holiday for spring break and Easter, replacing the customary one-week holiday. Cost savings are realized by laying off hourly staff such as education assistants, custodians, bus drivers, etc. These support staff ‘enjoy’ an extra week of holidays without pay. Teachers, on the other hand, enjoy an extended holiday with no loss of pay.
Suggestions to change the school day or school year calendar have consistently met with resistance from the BCTF and union locals. The usual response to discussions of year-round schooling and extending the school day to relieve pressure on facilities has been met with the same question; what is the educational objective of the proposed change? In this case, the rationale is to add the lost instructional time to the remainder of calendar instructional days. In reality, the addition of four minutes of instructional time to the school day is neither verifiable nor achievable. The real objective seems to be to sacrifice students and support staff in order to balance the books.
The rhetoric from BCTF executive and union locals focuses on ‘learning conditions for students’ and ‘working conditions for teachers.’ In spite of this, there has not been as much as a squeal from either provincial union executives or the teachers’ union local. Could it be that ‘improved’ working conditions with an extra week of holidays without loss of pay trumps learning conditions and solidarity with support staff? Given this change to the district calendar has no educational objective, methinks the BCTF union local protests too little.
James LetticNanoose Bay