STRAIT AREA: Nova Scotians are awaiting the results of a strike vote by members of the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union (NSTU).
Following the decision by the Nova Scotia Government to adopt the recommendations from the Dr. Avis Glaze report, the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union approved a strike vote for February 20. The results of the vote were unavailable as of press time Tuesday morning.
Leading up to the vote, Antigonish Education Centre teacher Maureen Armour was at the Antigonish Town and County Library to answer questions from the public and circulate a petition opposing the potential legislation of the Glaze report’s 22 recommendations without public consultation.
“The best thing about having a petition is it actually gets NSTU members out talking to members of the public,” said Armour. “When there’s something as big as of a concern as the treatment of our children and the students in our province and education in our province, it’s fine to talk to our friends and our family about our concerns but they are the same people who are always hearing our concerns.”
Armour said she was also able to explain to people why teachers are upset.
“This is all about changes to bureaucracy and changes that will be diverting large sums of money that could be going into our classrooms and helping our students who need it the most,” Armour said.
Discussing the glaze report, Armour said it came together very quickly. The day after releasing the report, the province announced they were accepting all of the recommendations while moving on the other half as soon as possible.
“To be completely fair, I will say it mentions things like students with special needs should receive more support,” she said. “There are lots of little good things that can be found in the report, however, those are not the recommendations that the government is forcing through to have in place for September, 2018. They are focussing simply on changes to bureaucracy, getting rid of the school boards for example.”
Nova Scotia General Employees Union president Jason MacLean made it clear which group his union supports.
“The NSGEU stands united with teachers,” stated MacLean in a press release. “Only by working together can we fix the problems that actually have been created by McNeil and his government.
“Stephen McNeil and Zach Churchill have been saying that this is what teachers want, that they were part of the consultation,” MacLean added. “The past week has shown that to be misleading and with a strong vote on Tuesday it will send a message to McNeil that teachers are going to fight for the best interest of the students they work with in the classrooms.”
NDP Education and Early Childhood Development spokesperson Claudia Chender met with Liette Doucette, the president of the NSTU, noting Doucette confirmed how upset teachers are with the provincial government.
“I am concerned about the many unanswered questions as to how these changes will affect the education system and the experience of students in the classroom,” stated Chender. “In my conversations with teachers over the past few weeks, it is clear they are frustrated that none of the major issues in our classrooms will be addressed by the McNeil government’s plans to implement recommendations from the Glaze report.”
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said the process of implementing the changes is as important as the changes themselves, noting he has been talking with and listening to teachers, principals and parents over the last week.
“There has been good discussion with principals around removing principals and vice-principals from their union,” McNeil stated. “After listening to those principals we have decided principals and vice- principals, and those in other senior supervisory positions, will have one year to decide whether they want to remain in their current role, or stay in the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union and return to the classroom. This will give them more time to consider their options before they make this important decision.”