Saturday, October 25, 2014

Kelowna School Trustee Elections Candidate information 2014

The Municipal election is Nov 15th. This is our opportunity to elect a board of trustee's that cares about education not about politics.  We will be electing 4 members to the board.

Here you will find a  quick list of links to help you find out who is running for School board trustee in Kelowna and a little about them. There will be an all Candidates forum held on Oct 30th at KSS in the Drama room from 6:30-8:30. Come out and hear what these candidates have to offer.


Scott Aaltonen
http://www.aaltonen.ca/

Chris Gorman
http://www.votegorman.ca/

Lee-Ann Tiede
http://www.voteleeann.com/

Nicholas Aubin
http://www.voteaubin.com/

Joyce Brinkerhoff
http://www.joycefortrustee.com/

Rolli Cocchioni
http://kelownavotes.com/vote/candidate/183

Peter Pagliocchini
http://www.votemrp.com/

Murli Pendharkar
http://www.am1150.ca/KelownaVotes/2014/10/14/murli-pendharkar

Sharlene Drohomereski
http://kelownavotes.com/vote/candidate/209

Lee Mossman
http://www.votemossman.com/

Visit Kelowna Votes for a quick Bio and Mission statement on all of those running in the Kelowna Municipal Election.

http://kelownavotes.com/

Visit Kelowna Elections for list of candidates.

http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page3557.aspx

Who are you voting for and why? Leave a comment below.



Sunday, August 31, 2014

Why teachers can't sign with E80 on the table.

Imagine a client hires you for a job. The pay isn't great but the work is steady and you like the hours.

A little while later they come back and tell you that the scope of the job has grown substantially and they understand you can't do it alone so they let you hire a team of 10 people. With 10, you can do the job, just. It's more challenging but you agree.

As time goes by they stop paying some of your team. You find yourself with a skeleton crew. You go to head office and tell them what is happening. They tell the client they have to pay for the 10 people they agreed to hire.

The client comes back saying they won't and tries to rewrite the terms of your agreement. You stop working. They stop paying.

They come back to you and say... we will hire you back, just you, not your team. The condition? They will hire you if and only if you agree to sign this document that says "Should head office decide more people are needed to complete the job it has no effect of the client and that the client doesn't have to hire more people.

Would you do the job?

 E80 is asking us to agree to let the government decide if they will abide by the court rulings.  It's asking us to agree to not rehire our team even if the courts decide the government is wrong again. Would you agree to that? Would you go back to work?

Teachers want to be in the classroom. They want to be teaching but they can't if E80 is part of the deal.


Monday, June 30, 2014

Letter to the Trustees by Martina Wikison


Dear Trustees of the Board of Education:

Thank you for writing a letter to Minister Fassbender and Mr. Iker regarding the current state of negotiations. Public education is suffering and the situation has become very difficult for all who are involved. I also sincerely hope that a mediator will be found to help resolve this dispute.

I have taken some time to read through Successful Governance to gain a better understanding of a school trustee's role and of the guiding principles. Under the "Provincial Context" section, it states the following principle that "Public education in Canada has been the great equalizer. Public education has been the means by which people of diverse languages, cultures and social and economic circumstance have been integrated into Canadian society with some reasonable aspirations to equality of opportunity." Furthermore, it states that "our commitment to public education - open and available to all members of our society - is the key element in shaping the way our society has evolved and will continue to change." It also states that "Public education in Canada is a provincial responsibility."

Keeping these principles in mind, I submit to you that public education in British Columbia is being threatened by government policies that have illegally reduced funding, increased class sizes and decreased support for all students, whether they are average, gifted, or in need of specialized support. When a family must wait two or more years for their child to receive psychoeducational testing because they cannot afford to pay for it privately, their child suffers greatly. When children do not receive adequate support from their classroom teacher because there are too many students and needs, those children suffer. Public education as "the great equalizer" is under threat. The current government has distanced itself from its "provincial responsibility" for public education.

According to Successful Governance, I understand the challenging role of school trustees to maintain constructive working relationships with the district, community, and government. However, the very principles upon which your jobs are founded, public education for all, are at risk. I challenge you to stand up for public education! I challenge you to speak to the media regarding the inadequate funding you must allocate every year. I challenge you to visit teachers on the picket lines to show that you also believe in education as "the great equalizer."

Yes, our students are worth it! I believe a negotiated agreement will be obtained much faster if groups such as yours stand up for better funding for public education. I look forward to your response.

Respectfully submitted,


Martina Wilkison



Letter to Fassbender - Education for a strong BC

Dear Honourable Fassbender:

I am writing to you to express my displeasure with you as the Education Minister, but also with Christy Clark the leader of the Liberal government. Our government has not been negotiating in good faith; it is my understanding that proposals are not being tabled regarding the size of classes and the composition within. The teachers of BC have consistently brought these issues to your ministry’s attention as the forefront challenge the teaching profession is faced with today. Despite this the government continues to only negotiate one side of the argument, the fiscal side in order to balance the budget!

It is very apparent to me, a layperson who follows these issues in the media that the government is taking steps towards defeating the public education system, pushing our teachers and children into the privatization of education in this province. As a businessman and a 3rd generation British Columbian this is extremely concerning. I was blessed with a quality education through the public system some years ago, and continue to rely on it as I hire newly graduated engineers and community consultants in my field of work. If we as the people of BC desire to have a strong work fleet to continue to build the economy, we need teachers in the public classrooms investing in our children for the future benefit of our province in generations to come.

I strongly encourage you to look in the mirror and ask yourself what you want the future of BC to look like far beyond your time on this beautiful land. I also encourage you to liaise with Premier Clark and your colleagues and come up with a plan to ethically negotiate with the teachers of BC with the mindset that your negotiation affects us all as a society.

Sincerely,

Jared Wilkison,


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Why we need to keep up the fight.

As the teachers strike goes on and talk of food banks for CUPE and BCTF members start coming out I find myself wondering if this is a battle worth fighting. Maybe we just need to go back to work and continue to make do. When I go over my reasons for voting yes in the first place I remember... this is a fight worth fighting.

Here is why I'm on the picket line this week and for as long as it takes.
  • I'm fighting for all the children I have taught and that I will teach. They deserve to have the resources, specialist teachers and support they need. 2 and 3 year waiting lists for specialist tests are unacceptable. Students deserve services now! They have waited long enough.
  • I'm fighting for myself. In the last 5 years I have had countless conversations with my husband that start with the question "Why do you keep teaching? Find another job. You could do so many other things and work less."  I can't imagine not being a teacher. Teaching is my passion but I'm not sure how much longer I can teach under current conditions. 
  • I'm fighting against a corrupt, deceitful government that believes it is above the law. Ripping up contracts, backroom dealings, creating legislature to get their way. This is not how government should be.
  • I'm fighting for everyone in BC. Governments should work FOR people.... not against them. Current education policies in BC are working against the poor, special needs students, public education and yes teachers too.
  • I'm fighting to restore rights that teachers before me sacrificed for YEARS to bring about. We aren't asking for something new. We are asking that funding be put back into education. 
  • I'm fighting for new teachers and future teachers. Over 40% of new teachers leave in the first 5 years of teaching. Working conditions, workload and wages are some of the reasons they leave. 
  • I'm fighting for respect. What teacher do MATTERS and the government need to recognize that. We work hard, studied for years and continue to study to be the best teachers we can be. We give hundreds of dollars and thousands of hours every year to our jobs and our students. We deserved to be treated with respect and we deserve to have the supports and services we need to do our job. 
I'm hoping for a fair deal soon but until then I'll see you on the Picket Line.

Note: If you can most locals are setting up food banks for teachers and CUPE members who need some help through this fight drop off a few items for those who need it.


Saturday, June 7, 2014

To my "Wonderful Ones" (past, present, and future)

To my "Wonderful Ones" (past, present, and future),

From the moment you enter my room you are "my kids." You are unique, you are eager, you are treasured. I am your counselor, your exercise instructor, your nurse, your dry-cleaner, your friend, your motivator, your shoe-tier, your tooth -extractor, 
your jacket-zipper...and oh, yes...your teacher.

I will teach you to respect, to cooperate, to explore, to problem-solve, to be grateful, and to be positive contributors to our classroom, and eventually, our society. For the very first time I will teach you to read, to write, to add, to subtract-and in only ten short months. It certainly does sound like an awful lot to accomplish in such a short
time, but I promise that we'll be so busy having fun, you won't even notice. So tonight after my toddler heads to sleep when I should be cleaning my house, or weeding the garden, I will be cutting out pieces for this cool new math game I made us, I will be searching the internet for songs to help us remember our doubles facts, I will be at the store buying froot loops to help us learn our "oo" sound in word work tomorrow, I will be sorting through pictures of you to glue into your scrapbook, and I will "pin" until my eyes are sore. I will do it all happily-because I care. I know we say goodbye at the end of each day, but the truth is I never stop thinking about you.

Sometimes I worry too. I worry about your progress, your friendships, your lost dog, why you didn't have a lunch yesterday, your mom and dad's upsetting divorce, or how to get you on that tremendously long wait-list for an assessment (so that maybe, just maybe, next year you can get the help you so desperately need). I worry how to spread my time fairly between all of twenty-four of you, when there are seven who need me to be constantly by their side. I worry that what I can do for you each day may not be enough anymore. I worry that none of you may hope to be a teacher like I did at your age because of all the negative things you may have been hearing lately. I still believe that being a teacher is the best job in the world, it's just that things are getting a lot harder these days, for me and for you. I am so lucky
to get to work with all of you each and every day. It brings me to tears every time I have to say goodbye in June. I can only hope that you bring with you the skills, passion and enthusiasm for learning you have now into your next grade and throughout your life. You may become doctors, lawyers, CEO's, artists, or even politicians one day, and I will know that your amazing path started right
here-at school.

It sure is a big responsibility teachers have when you enter our rooms, but it's a responsibility we embrace with all of our hearts. You are "our kids" and we only want what's best for you. Dr. Seuss taught us that "unless someone cares a whole awful lot,nothing is going to get better. It's not." So now a whole lot of teachers who care a whole awful lot, are caring in a different way than we are used to. But unfortunately, now words like "lockout" are forced into your vocabulary. I know it's not on our word wall-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I haven't been able to give you any of that one-on-one time at lunch, or watch you create your latest rainbow loom creation out our classroom door at recess, and I'm sorry that we had to cancel our field trip next week. It breaks my heart. But what will break my heart even more is if nothing's going to change for you.

I've done everything I can for you, but now it's time for some others to start caring about you as well. Caring about your education, your future. I know if they came here to meet you they would feel the same as I do. They would see how precious you are, how hard you're working. They would see that you are our future, and most of all, an enormous responsibility.

Since we can't, maybe it's time for someone else to take a field trip...

Love always,
Your Grade One Teacher

Alycia Soukeroff

Letter to Honourable Fassbender from Martina Wilkison

My letter to BC's Minister of Education (if you are not aware of what is happening to the education system, please take some time to find out. It is important!):

Dear Honourable Fassbender:

I am writing you to inform you to what extent your lockout affects children. Although it may not appear that reduced hours make a big difference, it is having a huge impact on the quality of education children are receiving.

In your lockout, teachers can only work for 45 minutes before and after school and are not allowed to work at lunch and recess. On average, I work 50 hours a week. In your lockout, you are asking me to reduce my hours to 31 hours and 15 minutes a week. That is almost by 20 hours! In this amount of time, it is impossible to plan and prepare high quality lessons and to mark quality evaluations of student learning. It also makes it very difficult to have enough time to meet with parents to discuss their child’s progress. On top of all that, you have made it impossible for me to help students outside of class time.

Moreover, as stated in your most recent letter, you expect me to complete my report cards as I would any other year. One child’s report card takes me approximately one hour to write (and that is not included in my 50 hour work week as described above). In my class of 27 students, report cards take me 27 hours, three times a year. When exactly did you have in mind for me to write my report cards?!?! It is outrageous to think that you are expecting me to do the same job that I did before your lockout with reduced hours and reduced pay.

Do you really care about the students and teachers of British Columbia? Your actions beg to differ. Just like parents advocate for their children and teachers advocate for their students, an education minister should advocate for education.


Martina Wilkison