Re: “Students seem to be making the sacrifices,” Letters, May 22.
The teachers of B.C. are indeed working toward a cause, a very important one.
They are advocating for an education system where all students are treated equitably, where education is funded adequately, so that another 10 years’ worth of students do not suffer under the same conditions that have existed since 2001 when the B.C. Liberals passed legislation that took nearly $300,000,000 per year from the education budget. That’s $3 billion over 10 years.
Teachers do not want to cancel science fairs and art shows, but the government has given them no other legal option. With the current under-funding, we are hearing from all over the province that such programs as art and music/band are being cut.
The B.C. government could have chosen to treat education as a priority. Instead they treated rich corporations as the priority. They cut their taxes so that now corporate taxes in B.C. are the lowest in the G8.
No one is saying the corporate taxes need to be the highest, but they certainly don’t need to be the lowest. The education system in B.C. has suffered while rich corporations get to make even bigger profits by paying less taxes.
Teachers would be happy to see youth exceed their goals. However, if someone doesn’t stand up to the government and advocate for students and the programs that help them exceed their goals, then many more students in the future will not be even attaining their goals, let alone exceeding them.
This is not just a teachers’ battle it is also a battle for the future of the whole education system.
Kathy Couch
Nelson