BC puts $37-million in teachers’ strike savings into schools
Posted April 2, 2012 6:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – $37 million dollars will be put back into education next year, and the province says it’s thanks to the three day walkout by teachers last month.
Education Minister George Abbott says $30 million in savings will go to the Learning Improvement Fund to provide direct student support, doubling the amount of money originally set aside for the fund this year.
Another $7 million in savings will go to school boards for individual district priorities.
The B.C. Teachers Federation has said the Learning Improvement Fund has far less money than required to keep up with inflation in bolstering the school system.
Demands from the union for improvements in class composition and size have been one of the major sticking points in the long-running contract dispute with the government.
Last week, Abbott appointed Charles Jago as the mediator to deal with the bitter contract dispute between the two sides.
