[comment to various news stories re Teacher Strike negotiations — Vancouver Sun, The Province, Huffington Post (BC). What I'm trying to establish is that it is wrongheaded to retain a structure that does harm to its mission (EDUCATION) and to society (DEMOCRACY) as a whole. What ever differences the two contending sides have, they will not give up their "playpen" the monopoly public education system. It may be time for serious work on exits via vouchers, charter schools, etc., which give the consumer — the parents — more flixibility to acquire the education that best fits their child. This conflict in BC raises serious questions of validity, credibility and accountability of the present rigid system.
Also questions about proper governance: Should government ROW or STEER the boat? Lots of literature, pro and con, on this topic. How about DIVERSITY of boats?]
TEACHER STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS LEGAL, BUT NOT LEGITIMATE!
What have you when two competing usurpers clash over stolen booty? It’s a squatters’ dilemma of sorts, isn’t it? Both squatting on someone else’s property, yet because they’ve been there for so long — each in his own way thinks he is the rightful owner by virtue of long occupancy and entrenched footholds.
This is the way I characterize this current clash between the BC government and the teacher union. This squatters’ war has been going on for over 40 years. The government-of-the-day, REGARDLESS of its political stripe — socialist, liberal or conservative believes it must govern a monopoly education system — believing they know what’s best for the individual students and parents in the system. The teachers’ union, BECAUSE of its political compass set in the 70s, believes in worker control of the workplace and has through its actions and structuring of reality in effect become a parallel government.
The history of the BC public education system has been well documented in the book, Worlds Apart: BC schools, politics & labour relations before and after 1972, (Fleming, 2011, Bendall Bks). Jim MacFarlan, BCTF president in the 70s was described as a “radical Marxist” who “believed schools should be used as instruments of social change”.
The closing paragraph of Fleming’s book (3 yrs ago!) said prophetically: “ . . .will government and the teachers’ federation finally find ways to behave in a civilized manner, or will the discord of recent decades finally weaken support for old organizational relationships to the point that a new ‘post-public’ universe of schooling will emerge? Sooner or later, these are questions that British Columbians and their government will be obliged to answer.”
While the book informs the bargainers in these critical talks, we can easily get the gist of the history from this article (go straight to “teacher power”)http://historicalstudiesineducation.ca/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/454/611
What I mean to say is this: Parents are the legitimate “owners” of education of their children. They are ultimately responsible to society and their children to obtain the best they can for them. The industry of “public education” that has arisen is an aberration even if most states of the world also run this way. A self-serving rapacious, predatory and parasitic industry thrives on monopoly and threatens to suffocate democracy and education. But, everywhere in the world, this centralization of education is being challenged. The domination by public sector teacher unions and their obstacling of choices and reforms are being confronted and corrected.
No doubt the bargainers and the mediator see the writing on the wall. There is a “post public” configuration awaiting. The monopoly is an invisible bargaining chip on the table. It is actually the government side that is reading the cards perfectly — parents ARE a third force in the picture, and will eventually reclaim their prime responsibility which has been so selfishly usurped. That is why the $40 per diem idea is so refreshing — an acknowledgement that parents have the first claim on the education dollar to help educate their children. See more of my argument here “When will the dam burst for parents?”http://www.parentsteachingparents.net/2014/08/when-will-the-dam-burst-for-parents/
You can bet both sides will try to keep the monopoly intact, but the world picture portends otherwise! See also the literature in public administration, which describes governments as “steering, not rowing the boat”. See also John Fryer’s research on this.