An open letter to Premier Christy Clark from a registered psychologist from Nelson that received thousands of reads in media circles has prompted the Ministry of Education do an about face a story Saturday on the website of the Vancouver Province newspaper said. The original letter from Dr. Todd Kettner was in response to the...

May 27, 2014 Christy Clark, Premier Via email. RE: $596.82 pay deducted for 70 hours of overtime? Dear Ms. Clark: Today wasn’t a great day for me personally. Neither was yesterday. Nor last week. Not even the week before. In fact, difficult days have been the norm since I was pulled away from preparing Mother’s Day brunch for...

Rotating teacher strikes will continue next week, with instruction brought to a halt in every school district for another full day (in SD 20, that will be June 2, and June 5 for SD 8. See end of story for all district schedules). “On Monday, June 2, schools and other SD20 locations will be picketed by members of the BCTF,” ...

Photos courtesy Brandi Dueck Rotating strike action in the SD 20 (including Rossland, Trail and Castlegar) on May 27 saw protesters at most schools in the district - including Robson Community School, where these photos were taken. The following day saw picketing in Nelson and area. Meanwhile, the SD 20 Track and Field meet...

Tap tap tappity tap tap. One of the strongest memories I have from my childhood is my dad tapping away at the computer. It’s not my earliest memory, but it happened nightly, so it was burned into my head. It was a comforting sound. My room was across the hall from his office and he would be working steadily into the night, ...

The School District 20 annual elementary track and field meet has become the latest casualty of ongoing strife between the province and its teachers, as day two of rotating job action in the district unfolds. The following letter was issued to local parents yesterday by SD 20 Superintendent Greg Luterbach: Dear Parents, With...

Day two of the BC Teachers’ Federation rotating strike schedule Tuesday sees picket signs outside public elementary and high schools in Arrow Lakes (Nakusp/New Denver) and Kootenay-Columbia (Trail/Castlegar/Rossland/Fruitvale) School Districts 10 and 20, respectively. Teachers in Kootenay Lake School District 8 (Nelson/Creston)...

I originally started to write this as a straight news story, then realized my personal opinions on the matter are too strong to allow me to be certain of balanced reporting, so instead I'm going for an opinion/editorial piece. The issue at hand is current BCTF job action, and the way teachers are getting blamed for greed and...

Becoming a Teacher is a many things, but I would hazard to say more a “Lifestyle choice” where you work desirable hours with weekends, long weekends, summers, and holidays all off. Any teacher knows what also comes with their chosen occupation, which is some work done at home, and also putting in time with the kids after...

Dear Parents and guardians: I regret to inform you that the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), the union representing teachers, has informed the school district that they will be engaged in rotating strikes and will be withdrawing teaching services in all SD20 sites on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. As of this time, this...