As trustee on the Greater Victoria school board, I am shocked that the B.C. Liberal government has chosen bribery and more division, rather than bargaining in good faith. Their other bullying tactics have not worked, so now they are using our children as political pawns.
I am disgusted that our government feels that public education can be bought off with $40 per day. Unfortunately, many parents would not be able to up-front the funds for this, as they would be reimbursed after they paid for their child care.
As trustees, we are supposed to be co-governors with the government for public education. I was never consulted nor was I informed prior to the media informing the public. Perhaps the B.C. Liberals had too much Okanagan wine at their retreat when they came up with one of the most absurd ideas to address the basis of our democracy: public education.
Premier Christy Clark and her team need to put the money back into public education, resolving class size and composition and teachers’ wages, rather than providing pennies to parents. Children and teachers in B.C. schools deserve more respect than that. All of us, including teachers and parents, want a mutually agreed-upon settlement immediately so that our schools can open peacefully on Sept. 2.
Edith Loring-Kuhanga
Victoria
