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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • W E D N E S D AY, J U N E 2 5 , 2 0 1 4
Teachers call report card plan ‘unethical’
Q G ARDEN D ELIGHTS
Katie Bartel The Progress
Final grades for students in grades 10 and 11 will be issued, but they won’t be accurate, say Chilliwack teachers. Last Friday the Labour Relations Board ruled that marks for grades 10 and 11 courses would be determined based on the last report cards issued. That means only the first half of the course will count. According to the LRB ruling, school principals will determine final marks based on what’s been reported to the BCeSIS system, and teachers are to review those marks and make changes they deem necessary. “Teachers know their students, they know the work students were doing up until strike action, so they have an opportunity to review and change the mark or confirm and keep it the same,” said Chilliwack school district superintendent Evelyn Novak. Several Chilliwack teachers, however, are calling the ruling not only offensive, but unethical. Most teachers don’t use BCeSIS other than to record marks for end of term and final report cards. Grade books are still in the schools, and the only way to access them is to cross picket lines. “So unless I’ve memorized 120 Term 4 marks, I have no way to know what to change their marks to,” said Joe Massie, a teacher at Sardis secondary. “It’s a real ethical dilemma for us. Most of us are saying we’re not going to do it, we’re not going to say these marks are right or wrong. “A report card is a legal document … it’s unethical to assign inaccurate grades.” That means that a student who may have been failing in the first half, but worked hard to improve Continued: LRB/ p8
Debbie Zawislak (centre, in dress) speaks with visitors in the garden during the 12th annual Chilliwack Rotary Club’s Garden & Lifestyles Tour on Saturday. The Zawislaks’ backyard garden is child-friendly and features swings, a putting area, a playground, tetherball, as well as adult seating areas, plus a firepit. Their garden was one of eight locations on the tour. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Support workers collateral damage in strike Katie Bartel The Progress
Chilliwack teachers aren’t the only ones suffering lost wages during the current teacher strike. School support staff are as well. Chilliwack CUPE 411 president Rod Isaac is concerned his members are being left out of the equation, even though, they too are missing work and wages as a result of not crossing picket lines. After hearing news reports of food banks being set up for teachers and rumors of corporations, like Telus giving B.C. teachers a credit on their phone bill, and Bridal Falls Waterpark offer-
ing free admission to teachers through the strike, Isaac felt it was time the public realized his membership is suffering as well. “We are certainly in favour of helping out those that need help at this time, however, we feel it is very important for the public to realize that CUPE school support staff across the province is being very severely impacted by this job action as well,” said Isaac. “Yes, we have a tentative agreement with BCPSEA, and part of that agreement is that the wages that we lose will be recouped, but what most people don’t seem to realize is that we are not receiving any pay at this time either.”
Lost wages for CUPE members will be recouped when the tentative agreement is fully accepted. “This will not be until sometime in the fall,” said Isaac. Several local 411 members are 10-month employees. “We have many, many, many members that make far less than even the lowest paid teacher in the BCTF,” said Isaac. “This situation has created a major hardship for them as well. “To be perfectly clear, we are not asking for handouts, nor are we trying to take away from the concern for the teachers, we simply feel that it is important for the public to be clear about the situa-
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tion as it impacts the rest of us.” More than 27,000 educational support workers are represented by the Canadian Union for Public Employers, including educational assistants, bus drivers, secretaries, IT staff, First Nations support workers, trades and maintenance workers. The B.C. government reached a tentative deal with the union representing school support staff on June 8 after five days of negotiations. The tentative deal is a five-year term, effective from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2019. kbartel@theprogress.com twitter.com/schoolscribe33
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