This morning one of my sons and I visited a number of Vancouver teacher picket lines. Our first stop was our neighbourhood school, U. Hill. Secondary, to distribute the message of support from the U. Hill PAC. We also took the opportunity to hand out copies of the support letter being circulated through this blog. From there we visited teachers at U. Hill Elementary, Queen Mary, Kitsilano Secondary, Lord Bing Secondary, Jules Quesnel, and Queen Elizabeth before returning home.
At each stop teachers expressed warmth and appreciation for all of the support that we are providing. Teachers from all of the areas reported strong moral support from passing drivers and others, like my son and I who stopped to talk. At Queen Mary a local parent and her children were serving coffee to the dozen or so teachers on the picket line. At Kitsilano a student teacher dropped by to give his support. VSB school trustee Noel Herron was also making his rounds listening to the concerns of teachers on the line.
While Ms. Bond may feel that a day out of school is a learning opportunity lost, my son and I have a different opinion. We learned a lot from the teachers we spoke with and I am pretty sure that My son has gained a very important lesson about the willingness of working people to stand up for their rights and the willingness of our teachers to stand up for public education!
In Solidarity,
Charles Menzies
Had your letter to the BC Liberals forwarded to me by my union pres. Very moved by the number of signatures. Thank you for doing this.
Kim Marks, teacher
Your letter of support was forwarded to me via the epse listserve as a PhD student in School Psych. I am also a teacher-psychologist for the VSB. Yesterday I “walked the line” with colleagues from my neighborhood school, not the ones where I usually work. I met lots of supportive parents, neighbors, etc. who kept us fed and encouraged. I shared your letter with them as well and I know they join me in thanking you for your support. I really appreciated that your letter captured our issues so well. Communicating our message succinctly is critical, thank you for doing so.
Hoping for an effective and “short” ending to this,
Pat Brix, Teacher-Psychologist
Wow. Thank you so very much for starting this blog and writing the letter. I have been reading the comments with tears in my eyes. The support from parents and the public in general has been overwhelming. The visits on the picket line by parents and students has been wonderful. They know the best way to a teacher’s heart and they bring food too!! hee hee
The work all of the PACs, etc. are doing to support the teachers’ fight is appreciated more than you’ll ever know. Thank you all so very much for letting us know you are behind us!!
Kids Matter, Teachers care, Time to Take a Stand!!!!
Tanya Stevenson, special education teacher
UBC colleague, E. Wayne Ross has his own weblog up on which you can also find a story about visiting the teachers’ picket line. Wayne also has information that would be useful and interesting related to this struggle on the entire issue with background materials.