Hopefully parents hung on to those handy back-to-school flyers that were stuffed inside issues of the Mirror last month.
The teachers’ strike appears headed for a settlement, awaiting a vote from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation Thursday as the Mirror went to press. Parents and other taxpayers should be disappointed that it took three weeks into September before the two sides learned to use their words, stop hitting, share and play nice.
If they could come to an agreement on Tuesday, they should have been able to come to an agreement three weeks earlier. But better now than never. We know that some educators experienced financial hardship, and that some parents faced day-care challenges.
This fight was about the kids, though, we were told, and we think the kids will be all right. Students have enough weeks left in the fall semester to get caught up on the curriculum, and they have more than enough time for proper exam preparation. They’ve missed out on some extra-curricular participation, but they’re still going to get that football season, band trip and Halloween dance.
They still have almost a whole school year ahead to make friends, build character, have fun and be kids.
We hope and we think that some good has come out of the strike. Sometimes it’s okay to agree to disagree, but not when it causes collateral damage. Maybe three weeks is minimal damage. Maybe this school year can still be one of the best ever.
-Black Press