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B.C. parents intervene as teachers strike continues

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Parents in British Columbia are getting increasingly frustrated as that province’s teachers’ strike gets ugly.

On Wednesday, B.C. Premier Christy Clark and B.C. Teachers Federation head Jim Iker used separate press conferences to trade barbs with one another.

"The teachers’ union decided to send their members out on strike and that’s why kids aren’t in school today," Clark said.

"And that’s why I’m calling on the union to suspend the strike. They’re the only ones that can do that."

Clark also took some more pointed jabs at the teachers’ singling out their request for $3,000 worth of massages a year and a demand for a $5,000 signing bonus.

Iker stood his ground.

"The B.C. government has not moved in any meaningful way for months," he said.

"In fact they’ve not added a single new dollar to their proposal to improve the learning conditions for our students since October 2013."

[ Related: B.C. Premier urges teachers’ union suspend strike, union vows indefinite unrest ]

Public school teachers in British Columbia haven’t had a contract since June 2013. Just before the summer holidays, this year, they finally went on strike over wages, benefits, class size and composition.

Last week, veteran mediator Vince Ready exited the talks claiming that the two sides are too far apart.

An added complexity is the government’s appeal of February’s B.C. Supreme Court ruling, which noted that the government improperly stripped class sizes and composition levels from the previous teachers’ contract.

Most analysts believe that — barring back to work legislation — this strike could be a long one.

"This dispute is likely to fester onward until a public outcry necessitates another legislated settlement, probably later this month, maybe in early October," Vancouver Sun reporter Vaughan Palmer wrote in his column on Thursday.

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A lot of parents in the province are feeling frustrated, helpless and powerless as the strike continues. The government has promised them $40/day per child under the age of 13 to cover daycare costs but that money won’t be paid out until after the strike is over.

There are some parents, however, who aren’t sitting back and watching it all happen.

They’re choosing to intervene in the dispute in some creative ways.

There’s one website that has popped-up asking parents to donate that $40/day back to the BCTF.

"Parents are wise to Premier Christy Clark’s underhanded - and expensive - tactics when it comes to dealing with BC’s teachers," notes the website Families Funding Teachers.

"We aren’t fooled or mollified by her offer of $40/day. We want our kids in school – not day care.We want our teachers paid well and fairly. We want our students who need extra help to get it. We demand quality public education for our children. They deserve nothing less."

As of press time, they’ve only raised approximately $2,800.

There’s also an interesting petition started by Tara Pemberton, a parent living in Kelowna.

Enough already - let’s drop the gloves and get this dirty laundry aired.

Literally and figuratively.

Air it live on TV so that BC 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.

Its gone on long enough that we as the taxpayers of BC deserve to have FULL disclosure.

An interesting idea?

The online petition has over 2,500 signatures.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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