140 Characters Not Enough

140 characters are not enough to respond to your concerns and assumptions.  It would have been easy to ignore your Twitter mentions and move forward, but I felt compelled to reply because I believe that I am one of your “Trustee friends” you are trying to convince to speak out.  First of all, trustees, school boards, and BCSTA are speaking out.  For example, here’s a blog post I wrote last month, Where Do I Stand.  Second, I do not agree with your suggestion of taking a “harsh stand against the Ministry.” Boards of Education are the employer.  Many letters have been written by many Boards requesting for “good faith” bargaining, mediation, and a negotiated settlement.  SD46 has written 2 letters.  BCSTA has made public statements and will again some time soon.  I agree that school board letters may not be frequently shared on social media for quick public access, but they do exist.  A “harsh stand” may not be effective or desirable if we want the government and the BCTF to listen.  Boards of Education and BCSTA want both parties to be at the table, make tough decisions, and mediate to establish a negotiated settlement by September 2nd.  The power I possess as an SD46 school trustee and BCSTA director is the power to INFLUENCE my boards.  This work is in progress and being done. Boards of Education and BCSTA have the power to influence government and the BCTF to get back to the table and bargain. However, they do not have the power to force both parties to bargain and ‘make the tough decisions’ needed to get mediation and a collective agreement.  They do not have the power to change the provincial mandate of not raising taxes in order to subsidize increased teacher wages and address class size & composition.  They do not have the power to predict the outcome of the supreme court appeal before September 2nd.  How does the saying go?  You can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.  In this scenario, there are two horses.  Yes, other stakeholder groups such as parents, trustees, and Boards of Education can motivate both government and teachers to bargain through the summer until an agreement is reached.  Both parties have stated that they were willing to mediate and bargain during the summer, but no dates have been currently scheduled to do so.  In the end, it’s up to the two bargaining teams to bargain.  #IMHO