Parents taking control during teacher strike

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – With no end to the current labour dispute in sight many parents are wondering how they can make sure their kids do not fall behind in their education — book sections in many stores are picked over, only a few workbooks remaining, and many school-age programs filled up before the summer was even over.

The good news is the province offers a full outline of curriculum packages for each grade level so parents wanting to make sure their kids are reading enough, don’t forget their math skills and remember what the capital of Canada is can be sure they’re helping their kids learn the right materials.

The guidelines cover Kindergarten through Grade 9 and include the prescribed curricula, from math and science to arts education and physical activity. Prescribed learning outcomes and suggestions for achievement indicators are included as well.

Meanwhile more than 1,500 parents have signed a petition, started by Tera Pemberton of Kelowna on Monday, demanding all negotiations between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association be aired on television.

“Let’s drop the gloves and get this dirty laundry aired,” Pemberton says in the petition. “Air it live on TV so that B.C. taxpayers can see what both sides are proposing, opposing, and compromising… and let's get this resolved.  No one knows what to believe anymore, and it is our children who are paying the price.”

School was scheduled to start Tuesday, Sept. 2 but was cancelled when negotiations between teachers and the province broke down over the weekend. The full strike began in June after several months of job action and rotating strikes.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.