BCTF scores major victory on class size and composition

It’s been 12 years since Bill 28 came into effect, altering class size and composition, and on the anniversary today, the BCTF scored a major victory.

A decision was released Monday morning, much earlier than the anticipated Spring release date.

In an 149-page ruling, the judge ruled that government’s decision to remove class size from the collective agreement was unconstitutional.

Jim Iker of the BC Teachers’ Federation says the judge ruled that the government’s actions are illegal.

“This hopefully means that we will have class size limits restored in our contract, and minimum levels of specialist support for our students restored,” says Iker. “This was illegally stripped from our collective agreement and led to 12 years of our students going through classrooms with higher class sizes and less support.”

Iker says he hopes this ruling means that students will start getting more access to specialists.

Bill 22 was also ruled unconstitutional, and monetary damages were assessed at $2 million, in favour of the BCTF.

“it’s a good day for our students and for our members,” says Iker. “Hopefully now we can go into a decade where our students have access to smaller classes and more access to special education teachers.”