B.C. looking to get new teachers in classrooms by end of January

The B.C. government is aiming to get new staff into schools by the end of January.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled provincial legislation from 2002 restricting bargaining on class size and composition was unconstitutional. The court ruled the province must increase staffing levels to ensure size and composition is restored to what it was nearly 15 years ago.

But B.C. Premier Christy Clark said there are still challenges to reach that goal.

"I think people want to see we are going to put more teachers in the classroom," said Clark, in a wide-ranging year-end interview. "It's been really productive, really co-operative trying to figure out how to get teachers into the classroom by January. But I don't know if we are going to get there."

Legislation was wrong 'in retrospect' 

The B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF) predicts that restoring staffing — including special needs teachers, librarians and counselors — will cost the government between $250 and $300 million per year. According to both the province and the BCTF negotiations have been going well between the two sides.

Clark was the education minister when the legislation was enacted in 2002. When asked whether she would admit now that she had been wrong to bring in the law — and to strongly defend it for more than a decade — she said government lawyers always supported the controversial decision to strip the teachers' bargaining rights.

"In retrospect, 15 years later, the court has said it was wrong. At the time though, all of the legal advice and the law was different. It was so apparent back then," said Clark.

Curriculum changes will impact funding

One of the challenges for negotiators is that requirements inside the classroom have changed since that original legislation. The province has introduced a new curriculum which provides more flexibility for teachers to discuss concepts rather than specific material.

The new curriculum is fully implemented from kindergarten through Grade 9. Teachers asked the province to delay the implementation of the Grade 10 through 12 curriculum until the beginning of the 2018 school year.

"Here we are at a place now, 15 years later, where the education system is very different. We have better outcomes, kids are doing better, we are getting better comparisons around the world," said Clark. 

BCTF says majority of British Columbians in support of funding

In a press release, the BCTF says British Columbians, "overwhelmingly want the government to abide by the ruling, implement it quickly and get more teachers working with students as soon as January.

"It's been more than a month since teachers won our huge victory at the Supreme Court of Canada and it's clear that British Columbians want the government to take action quickly to restore our working and learning conditions," said B.C. Teachers' Federation president Glen Hansman in a statement.

"With a $2.24 billion surplus, we know the government has plenty of funding to get the job done for this school year and on an ongoing basis. The public agrees that government needs to make the necessary investments as soon as January."