To the editor;
The “net-zero” mandate the government gave this legislature really shows what you think public education is: a business. Only in a business does money in have to equal or be greater than money out.
Really, Christie Clark needs to think of education as more of an investment, which is exactly what it is.
Money that gets used to teach that grade 1 student his or her alphabet will not be immediately returned. It will take another 11 years until they graduate, and if that student decides to pursue post-secondary education, it may be another two to eight years before that student becomes a part of the workforce, and that investment begins to be returned.
If the government wants to think of public education as a business, then why not give it the same standards of private education, which is, more or less, a business?
This really all comes down to respecting teachers, and the work they do for the community and the province. You must know some people who were educated in public schools. Where would they be now if it weren’t for the education given to them by the teachers? Where would any of us be?
I don’t think I would be pursuing a career in engineering if it weren’t for the help and support of several teachers in high school, and if it weren’t for the love of English that many other teachers put into me, I doubt I would be pursuing English literature in my spare time.
Teachers can help us become the people we aspire to be, but only if they have the resources to do so. Right now, being in education is a labor of love - the love teachers have of education, and helping others become educated - but it is about time that they are recognized for their efforts.
A full open letter is available online at http://lordofgallifrey.livejournal.com/5799.html.
Anne Simonen
Burnaby, B.C.