Teachers, government have lessons to
learn
The Daily Courier (Kelowna)
Wed 24
Aug 2005
Page: A10
Section: Opinion
Byline: John Harding
Source:
The Daily Courier

The parents of 22,000 Central Okanagan public school
students had better start looking for daycare options.

The province's 42,000 teachers will take a strike vote Sept. 20-23. They
will, we predict, give their negotiators a strong bargaining tool with the
results of that vote, which will be overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

That does not, of course, mean they will strike. A strike vote is part of the
process, a trump card for the union. When it's taken early in the bargaining
process, it seems boisterous and unnecessary. It's not early in the process.

"We're concerned at this stage of bargaining that they're exploring strike
options," Hugh Finlayson, CEO of the employers' association, told The Canadian
Press.

Since the teachers have been without a collective agreement since June of
2004, we wonder at what stage Finlayson would deem a strike vote appropriate?

Regardless, we're getting down to the nitty gritty here, and teachers - no
friends of the Liberal government and vice versa - seem ready to flex their
muscles.

Class sizes have always been an issue with teachers. Those who graduated from
high school in the 1980s or earlier wonder what the big deal is - classes of 35
or 40 students were the norm, not the exception, back then. We all didn't turn
out too badly, did we?

Coincidentally (or not, depending on your own cynic meter), the C.D. Howe Institute
released a study yesterday that argued better teachers, not smaller classes,
help students.

Filled with verbiage that would raise the hackles of the most mellow teacher,
the 20-page study, completed by C.D. Howe policy analyst
Yvan Guillemette, concludes that "despite the fact that
such policies are often sold as moves to help students perform better, there
exists no solid base of empirical evidence to show that smaller classes improve
student achievement beyond kindergarten and Grade 1, when pupils are being
socialized into the classroom environment."

Some say the C.D. Howe Institute is a right-wing think tank. C.D. Howe describes itself as "a national, non-partisan,
non-profit organization that aims to improve Canadians' standard of living by
fostering sound economic and social policy."

Whatever. What we do know is both parties - the government and the teachers -
are going to have to move away from some entrenched positions if the schools are
to remain open this fall.

Edition: Final
Story Type: Editorial
Length:
390 words