A Therapeutic Rant (more like a cry for help) from a BC Teacher on Strike.

It is the last week of August.  Usually, I would be sending my kids off to daycare so that I could volunteer my time to organize my classroom, my second home, a place I will spend 9 straight hours a day in because I am there through lunch.  I’d clean out the microwave, restock my emergency food stash and start up my mini-fridge.  I’d redecorate to make it fresh and energizing.  Personalize posters and mini-individual pencil cases so that the students feel welcome in their classroom.  Assign books and prepare activities that introduce the students to the “how tos” of our daily routine.  I’d read over the more significant student files and of course start preparing for the first week of lessons.  I would be eager, optimistic and energized.  In fact, the excitement of a new year would keep me from falling asleep every night.

Instead, I lose sleep because of uncertainty, helplessness and fear.

I fear that there are still too many people out there who think this is all about wage and benefits.  I am afraid that too many people have an unrealistic idea of what is really going on in a classroom.  I feel helpless because the teachers are fighting against an opponent with never ending resources that manipulates and plays dirty.  I am unsure if all this chaos, the demeaning posts that I can’t help but take personally and suffering will be worth it in the end.   And if supports to children do not improve, it will not be worth it to me.

I WANT to go back to work.  But I do NOT want to return to the CONDITIONS THAT I LEFT.

     It is unrealistic and negligent that a school of over 500 students has to share access to one counsellor. (I am sure it is much worse in other schools/districts as exemplified by the story that went viral about the Kootenay Lake grief counsellor). In an age of cyber-bullying, various forms of abuse, rampant child poverty, split families, mixed families, single parent families and earlier exposure to drugs, sex and violence the children are more vulnerable than ever.  In most cases, time is of the essence: immediate access to help and the quality time necessary to give it is not available for a councillor with such a large case load.

     It is deplorable that children have to wait about two years before seeing a specialist for evaluation.  And this is after jumping through all the hoops of trying different strategies, gathering evidence and endless meetings to just to put them on the waiting list.  This means over two years of frustration…over two years without help…over two years of falling behind.

     It is atrocious that a kindergarten teacher starts the school year alone with, an average of, 19 four to five year olds.   There are days when I find it difficult to manage my one four year old.   A room full of such kids with different strengths, needs, routines and “quirks” would be impossible!  More importantly, it is nearly guaranteed that at least one of those children will require additional support.  The teacher will see that nearly right away.  It is during these formative years that help is vital and most effective but due 12 years of erosive budget cuts, this help is at least two years away.  At this impressionable age, support should be preventative, pre-emptive and already in the classroom in the form of an extra qualified body as of the first day.  Instead, those children will have already encountered the first shortcoming of a system that is supposed to help them thrive.  Already, their academic journey starts off a little bit behind.

     It is borderline neglectful that there aren’t enough specialist teachers to help support teachers and guide students.  What is tragic about this is that all a child may need is a little extra support here and there, every now and again, in order to flourish.   However, because this little or temporary push is unavailable, that child’s potential continues to be stifled.  Again, this leads to more frustration…more emotional hardships…more falling behind.

    And although I am eternally grateful that our EAs take on a larger workload by allowing “unassigned” children to work with them, it is shameful that we must do this piggy-backing.  This means that the child who is entitled to this support is sharing it with others and this is not fair either.

     It is nearly contemptuous that a child who has been diagnosed by a medical specialist may not meet the Ministry of Education’s criteria for special needs.  This means that the Ministry (whose current Minister has more experience in marketing, including the marketing of the costly BC Place and Vancouver Convention Center than he does in actual education) can tighten the qualification criteria whenever they want to make funding harder to obtain.  The Province saves money at the expense of the child.

I simply cannot “settle” with these current conditions so that school starts this September. Why would I settle for any less than what the courts have (twice) told teachers was legally ours?  If I do, all this (lost teaching time, lost learning time, lost year end celebrations, lost wages, tension between friends and family and many tears...) would be for naught and the students of the future will continue to be short-changed. Why would I settle for any less than what the courts have (twice) told us was legally ours? My children, your children and all children deserve better.

It comes down to this:  As it is now, the system is going to fail my children and will, at some point and at some level, fail every child too.  It has been doing so for over 12 years.

This is unacceptable.

And although writing this out gave me a little recharge in my convictions, I can't help but feel overwhelmed and discouraged because the Government really doesn't seem to care and has the means to literally and emotionally starve me into submission.