Teachers Can Speak Out

A labour arbitrator has upheld the right of B.C. teachers to criticize the provincial government in parent-teacher interviews and on public bulletin boards.

Arbitrator Don Munroe says school boards were wrong to stop a teacher-led campaign against the Liberal government in 2002.

B.C. Teachers' Federation president Neil Worboys applauds the ruling saying it allows teachers to warn parents about the effects of growing class sizes and government cuts on education.

"We want to ensure that there's an education system in this province that's good, so that each and every one of those kids who come to our classes have a chance for success," he says.

Worboys says teachers won't express their political concerns to students in the classroom.

The B.C. Teachers' Federation has already approved spending $5 million on a campaign to make education a major issue in next year's provincial election.

B.C. Education Minister Tom Christensen says he is fundamentally opposed to the teachers' ability to bad mouth his government.

Christensen said "My initial reaction was one of shock. There's certainly a proper time and place for teachers to take up their political concerns but that is not in our public schools."