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Editorial: Move now on class-size fixes

Thousands of students have gone from kindergarten to Grade 12 and out into the world in the time it has taken the courts to finally rule that B.C. teachers have the right to bargain things such as class size and composition.

Thousands of students have gone from kindergarten to Grade 12 and out into the world in the time it has taken the courts to finally rule that B.C. teachers have the right to bargain things such as class size and composition.

It was a fight the provincial government should never have begun, and one it should have stopped years ago.

Last week, the government slammed into the final hurdle in its 14-year legal steeplechase: the Supreme Court of Canada. The court swept aside the government’s arguments and agreed with the B.C. Teachers’ Federation that teachers’ rights have been trampled.

In 2002, the government of then-premier Gordon Campbell decided to legislate away the bargaining rights of teachers and health-care workers. Leading the charge against teachers was the education minister of the day, Christy Clark.

Now, as premier, Clark is looking at the bill for that mistake and 14 years of refusal to correct it.

The bill, which taxpayers must cover, could be an extra $250 million to $300 million a year, if one accepts the calculations of the BCTF. In no time, that will eat up the $100 million the government set aside in its Learning Improvement Fund to pay for class-composition issues.

Before 2002, the collective agreement with teachers set limits on the total number of students in a classroom, capped the number with special needs and required certain numbers of counsellors, librarians and other specialist teachers.

Bill 28 unilaterally scrapped the contract, and said that class size and composition were no longer up for negotiation.

The teachers fought back in court, and the law was found unconstitutional in 2011. Instead of bowing to the court’s decision, Clark introduced similar legislation the following year to end a teachers’ strike.

The B.C. Supreme Court Justice Susan Griffin slapped down that law, as well, saying two constitutional wrongs don’t make a right. But the province didn’t back down, taking the case to the B.C. Court of Appeal, which upheld the new law.

One appeal-court justice, Ian Donald, dissented. In the end, it was Donald’s reasoning that persuaded the Supreme Court in its ruling on the case.

Donald wrote: “This case is the culmination of at least 13 years of systemic and institutionalized negation of the BCTF’s … right to associate collectively to achieve important workplace goals.”

As ill-conceived as Bill 28 was, it was the Liberals’ refusal to back down over those years that particularly rankles. They appeared to delight in putting the boot to the teachers at every opportunity, exacerbating what is probably the most poisonous labour-relations climate in the province.

While teachers and their often ill-advised tactics must bear much responsibility for the bad blood, the government’s past intransigence will make it more difficult for the two sides to get down to the job of fixing class sizes and composition. The BCTF thinks smaller classes and more counsellors could be a reality by early next year, but Clark has not committed to a timeline.

“We don’t know how much it’s going to cost, but, you know, I think investing in kids is a good investment,” Clark said.

If it’s such a wise use of money, why have the B.C. Liberals spent more than a decade fighting against that “good investment”? The proximity of the next election could have something to do with Clark’s newfound enthusiasm.

Regardless of her motivation, the court has given the government its marching orders. There is no excuse for delay.