BC Teachers Strike

First off I am not taking either side of this battle. What seemed to be a relatively invisible strike for the general public, after 3 months has taken on a very public strike now that it is directly affecting our kids!

I was willing to be patient with the process till now. As background the teachers started phase one of their strike in September as both sides had not come to an agreement in time for the beginning of the school year. As a parent you would notice things slipping through the cracks and a lack of communication but on a very small scale.

Last week though I received an email that my child would receive a report card though it would be blank as the teachers, as part of the strike, will not grading the children on their work or progress.

The below attached letter explaining this from the school board states that legally they have to provide us with 3 report cards a year. Well....as far as I'm concerned a blank piece of paper with my child's name on it is not a report card. To top it all off they wanted me to sign the report and return it to the school!  Excuse me....sign what that you provided me with a blank report, showing the entire systems lack of responsibility to my child. Forget that.

My issues with this reporting fiasco are;

1. this does not constitute a "report" card so they are not meeting their legal obligation
2. what a huge waste of paper, money and staff time preparing blank report cards & return envelopes
3. how do I know the teacher is doing their job, that they have been paid to do
4. I have no way of knowing how my child is doing and what they need help with
5. when this is over and the next real report card comes out I will have nothing to compare it with as the previous report was blank so I can't see where she's doing better, or worse.

Whats the point of sending them to school at this point?

As I said I am not taking sides I am angry at both sides right now. I hope that if enough of us speak out maybe we can pressure everyone to come to an agreement. I have stated my displeasure to my principal, the school board, and soon the BCTF and the media where possible.

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Reporting to Parents - Formal Written Report Cards

 <notifications@schoolconnectsweb.com> Thu, Nov 24, 2011 at 4:12 PM

Reply-To: notifications@schoolconnectsweb.com

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Further to my SchoolConnects message on October 25th, I would like to provide you with an update on

reporting your child’s progress.

In British Columbia, provincial legislation requires that parents/guardians are provided with a minimum of three formal written report cards and two informal reports each school year. During the current job action, the BC Teachers’ Federation has directed teachers not to produce formal written report cards. On October 26, 2011, the BC Public School Employers’ Association filed an application to request that the Labour Relations Board vary the Essential Services Order to require teachers to prepare and distribute report cards.

To remain in compliance with provincial legislation and the School Act, formal written report cards are

currently being prepared and issued to parents/guardians of all students enrolled in North Vancouver School District. Your child’s first-term formal written report card will be prepared by the school administrators.

All report cards will contain basic information regarding the student’s enrolment and attendance. Students who attend classes taught by principals or vice-principals will receive a report card that provides marks for those classes. For most report cards, information on student progress will vary and be dependent on what information is provided by the student’s teacher. Some report cards may include the evaluation teachers routinely supply, while others will not. As a result, you may see blanks where commentary would normally have been provided.

If you have not been given the information you need to understand your child’s progress, I encourage you to contact your child’s teacher, or teachers. Teachers are assessing and evaluating their students on a regular basis and can provide you with your child’s progress through a meeting, e-mail, or telephone conversation.

To provide you with contact information, all schools in North Vancouver are listing staff e-mail addresses on their website. If you are unable to access the website, please contact the school and request assistance.

If any concern arises regarding communications between you and your child’s teacher(s) during this phase of job action, you may wish to contact the North Vancouver Teachers’ Association at

school principal or vice-principal.

I appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to work through job action.