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YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT! WWW.DELTA-OPTIMIST.COM The Voice of Delta since 1922 SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 2011
See Page 18
Misty morning at cemetery
PHOTO BY
A visitor from Germany captured this image of a shrouded sun rising above the Boundary Bay Cemetery in Tsawwassen recently.
NORA PALLIN
Saip backs Falcon, teacher idea
School board chair likes Liberal leadership candidate’s proposal to pay educators based on performance BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
Delta school boar chair Dale Saip is throwing his personal support behind Liberal leadership candidate Kevin Falcon. Saip told the Optimist this week he supports Falcon’s position on the issues, including the candidate’s proposal to offer financial incentives for teachers recognized for their excellence in the classroom. “We’re working really hard in our district of finding new ways of doing things and being innovative and I like the idea that someone is willing to step outside the traditional restraints of education
and challenge it,” said Saip. Falcon recently made a splash on his campaign trail by suggesting public school teachers be paid according to their teaching skills and not length of service.
The Liberal leadership hopeful said he would push for a meritbased pay system if he becomes premier after his party’s Feb. 26 leadership vote. His proposal is called a Master Teacher Incentive Program. Noting the same model has
already been implemented in Australia, Saip said, “Ultimately, you have to look at what is the desire of parents and what’s good for kids. We have to continue to embrace new ideas and look forward rather than just doing things the way they have been done because that’s always been done that way.” Susan Lambert, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, said this week she was appalled by the Surrey-Cloverdale Liberal MLA’s proposal, noting the Liberal government has undermined the education system with inadequate funding for the past decade. First elected in 2001, Falcon held the health and transporta-
Dale Saip
Kevin Falcon
tion portfolios in Premier Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government. He was often the target for opponents of the South Fraser Perimeter Road. Saip said he believes Falcon has the ability to keep a coalition together and govern the province effectively.
A member of the B.C. Liberals, Saip ran for the party’s nomination in the 1999 Delta South by-election, but was disqualified on a technicality. Saip said he has no hard feelings about what happened and continues to support what he believes are the best interests of the province.
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