Teachers still struggling with class size and composition

Teachers across BC have lost a big battle in court, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop talking about class composition.

Prince George District Teachers’ Association President Richard Giroday says something about the most recent strike made teachers more open to talking about class composition.

“A lot of times it’s really difficult for them to share what’s going on in their classes because of confidentiality. But during the strike they became very open, and very vocal to point out there are serious flaws in our public education system because of the underfunding.”

Class composition refers to the amount of students with special needs and severe behaviour issues can be in one classroom.

Giroday says the lack of teacher assistants, and rising classroom sizes are leaving many educators in over their heads.

“It would not be unusual to have a myriad of students who have behavioural problems, who may have emotional problems, or physical disabilities, or English as their second language, all in one class, with very little educational assistance.”

Schools can receive more funding if children are registered as having a learning disability, but the student has to go through a rigorous testing process to receive that label.

For many parents, it’s just not worth it.

Giroday noted most testing happens in Grade 7, before elementary students hit high school.

He also says teachers start to identify red flags as early as grade 2.

With a mixture of children who need extra attention, a lack of teacher assistants, and growing class sizes, Giroday says many teachers are in over their heads.

“The demands on many of our teachers is so great, many of them just can’t manage it. One teacher that approached me earlier this week asked me, “What is the position? Where are we at in terms of composition in our Contract?” I said I’d have a look at the School Act in case anything has changed, I have to take a look at school regulations, I have to look at our contract… Everything that has to do with classroom composition has been removed. There’s nothing in the School Act, nothing in school regulations, nothing in our contract. It’s all been stripped away.”

With the province’s introduction of Bill 22 three years ago, teachers lost the right to negotiate how many students with special needs and severe behaviour issues can be in one classroom.

Teachers say class make-up is part of their working conditions, and they should have the right to have it in their contract.

The BC Court of Appeal disagreed, and ruled in favour of the province, though the teachers had won two prior court decisions.

The government acknowledged that it will have to bargain class size and composition in future negotiations, and points out the issues were on the table during the last round of negotiations- though no ground was ever made on the subject.

As one teacher told MyPGNow, “I didn’t go on strike for this”.

A Supreme Court Decision on whether the BCTF can appeal the ruling will be announced by mid-December.