As representatives of the Fruitvale Elementary School Parents’ Advisory Council (PAC), we are deeply concerned about the ongoing under funding of public education and the long-term effect it will have on our children and the future of our province.
We are now six months into a school year that has seen teachers take job action by stopping all non-teaching duties.
This has meant no formal report cards, no parent teacher interviews and no teacher supervision of the playgrounds.
Although the teachers have gone out of their way to minimize the impact on the students, the withdrawal of these services have left many parents questioning how their child is progressing and has put an added burden of supervision on the administrators.
Rest assured that this does not mean that B.C. teachers are not working as hard! Teachers continue to do lesson preparation, instruction, marking and assessment, as well as communicating with parents as needed.
Our involvement in the school has allowed us to watch, first hand, how tirelessly teachers work every day to make our school one of the best in the province.
It is their devotion and love of the children that keep them coming to work every day. It is time that this dedication is rewarded and the province increases its investment in public education; ensuring that the teachers’ concerns about class size and composition, better support for kids with special needs and a plan to deal with B.C.’s shameful distinction of the highest child poverty rate in Canada are heeded.
Our teachers play an essential role in our children’s lives.
Isn’t it time that our government makes the same commitment to investment in our children’s education as they have done in staging and hosting the 2010 Olympics and funding the BC Place Roof?
Please join us in supporting our BC teachers. The future prosperity of British Columbia depends on it.
Fruitvale Elementary PAC 2011-2012 executive members; Lisa Cabana, Kandy Schroder, Christine Renzie, Vivian Campsall, Heather Mason, Lori Lavigne, Shalaume Leslie and Kris Romanchuk