Unionized B.C. teachers will comply with a Labour Relations Board ruling that they must administer the provincially mandated Foundation Skills Assessment tests.

More than 80 per cent of the 12,400 teachers who voted provincewide yesterday agreed with a recommendation from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s executive to comply with the LRB edict “under protest.”

However, Thierry Ponchet, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, said it’s not the last word on the FSA tests, given annually to Grade 4 and 7 students in February. “There are going to be individual teachers who will stand up and refuse to give the test.”

He would not reveal the ballot results from Greater Victoria teachers, but said, “I am very proud of how our teachers here in Victoria voted.”

Teachers say the tests intrude on valuable teaching time and are of little benefit in learning. But the province and school boards say the tests offer a good way of comparing achievement among schools and students, and those comparisons help to identify areas that need attention.

The BCTF is encouraging parents to write to school principals requesting that their children be excluded from the tests.

Tom Ferris, chairman of the Greater Victoria School District, said parents can ask that their children be excluded from the FSA, but noted that few take the option.

Ferris said he is pleased with the teachers’ vote. “Obviously, the minimum amount of disruption to students is the best possible outcome from our perspective.”

Ponchet, however, said he was “very, very disappointed” in the BCTF executive’s recommendation to accept the LRB edict. He noted that a December vote where teachers decided 85 per cent in favour of boycotting the FSA tests, with about half the province’s 41,000 teachers casting ballots, was a more accurate measure of teachers’ resistance to the tests.

BCTF president Irene Lantzinger said the union’s lawyers advised it would be in contempt of court and subject to fines if it violated the LRB ruling. Individual teachers could also be exposed to disciplinary action if they refused to administer the tests.

The union maintains the province should use random sampling methods instead of testing all students in reading, writing and math. Use of the FSA results in school rankings by the Fraser Institute, a right-leaning think tank, is one of the BCTF’s most-often-stated grievances against the tests.

The BCTF and its regional union groups were given until 4 p.m. yesterday to inform members the boycott is over, but the union responded by polling teachers about the ruling.

Education Minister Shirley Bond said the goal is to move forward with this year’s FSAs, then have a “meaningful discussion about what other kinds of information we could provide to give context to FSA results.”

jwbell@tc.canwest.com

jhatherly@tc.canwest.com