About the Solidarity Committee

We are education students at SFU who are working together in support of adequate funding for B.C. public schools. We are advocating for our interests as university students during the bargaining process between the BCTF and the BCSPEA.

Read our Statement of Principles and Expectations (pdf) - Adopted September 5, 2014

All SFU education students are welcome to participate and to be involved in the work and decision making of the Solidarity Committee. There are currently two subcommittees:

Solidarity Actions Subcommittee organizes actions in support of the BCTF and public education for all.

Strike Impacts Subcommittee helps facilitate an open and equitable process for addressing student needs as SFU responds to the strike in terms of practicum placements and other student needs.

Send us an email or attend an event to get involved.

SFU student teachers at the Public School Solidarity rally.

Great Turnout for Today's Public School Solidarity Rally

 

Update: Great Turnout for the Rally, Opening Up Communication with SFU, and More

Wow! What a busy week.

It was just last Friday when over 20 education students gathered to form the Solidarity Committee. So much has happened in the seven days since our first meeting!

We have:

• Adopted a statement of principles and expectations (here they are)
• Reached out to the administration to open up communication and a collaborative process
• Held a "Public School Solidarity" rally and picketed with teachers at University Highlands

Through the process, we've had over 1000 page views on our website, shared our message on Global News, CBC Radio, and CBC Television, and formed a partnership with the TSSU (teaching assistants union at SFU).

There has been a lot of progress in opening up communication with the administration. Look for some concrete steps forward on this in the early part of next week.

We also organized ourselves into two subcommittees. One is focusing on Strike Impacts (communication with the administration) and the other is focusing on Solidarity Actions (demonstrating support for public education). All education students are welcome to join and help out with either subcommittee. If you are interested, just send an email asking how to get connected and more involved.

Public School Solidarity Day of Action (Sept 12 @ SFU)

Friday Sept 12, 2014 is a Day of Action for Education Students

SFU student teachers, let's demonstrate our support for public education and the BCTF. Make signs, march, and join the picket line in solidarity with teachers.

• When: Friday Sept 12 - Make signs at 10 AM, march starting at 11 AM
• Where: Meet in the atrium by Renaissance Coffee (outside of the Edu. Building)
• Who: All education students and other SFU allies of public education are welcome

Thank you TSSU for helping organize this event and for printing our fliers. It's great to be working with you!

Update from Today's Solidarity Committee Meeting

At today's lunchtime meeting we decided first to form two subcommittees. One will focus on communication and shared decision making with SFU administration on strike impacts. The other will focus on solidarity actions with BCTF teachers and communication in support of public education.

The following report is from the Solidarity Actions Subcommittee:

We decided to call a "Solidarity Day of Action" to encourage student teachers to join BCTF teachers in solidarity on the picket lines. Working with the TA student union (TSSU), we will organize a day of action on Friday Sept 12.

Meet at 10 AM on Friday Sept 12 in the atrium by Renaissance Coffee (just outside of the Education Building). We will make signs and then march to a nearby public school to join the picket line.

The Solidarity Actions Subcommittee with produce a "Solidarity Guide" to help student teachers navigate solidarity action that respects our role as future professionals (who are not members of the BCTF as student teachers) and the role of the BCTF and teachers.

Global BC News Report

Tonight Global BC covered the public school strike from the perspective of SFU education students. The story included news from the Faculty of Education that all education students may want to know about. Please spread the word about the following new information:

1. The SFU Faculty of Education says that it may negotiate with the TRB to see if students can be credited for other forms of work experience
2. The Dean of the Faculty of Education said that if the semester is lost to the strike, students will get a tuition refund

Text from the Global BC Report

From Global BC:

The current teachers’ strike is claiming another victim, this time it’s also hitting post-secondary students.

Next week education students in universities across the province are waiting to enter public school classrooms to start their teaching practicums. The ‘real world’ experience is integral to them completing their degrees in December and moving into their teaching careers.

But at universities like Simon Fraser in Burnaby, there are almost 250 students who are now waiting and worrying their graduation could be in jeopardy due to the teachers’ strike.

“I’m very anxious and stressed out,” SFU education student Chelse Kirchmayer told Global News.

“Even not being able to have full contact with the person that I’m going to be doing my practicum with is very stressful.”

SFU education students like Kirchmayer and Tom Kertes were set to enter their classroom placements next week to begin their 10 to 12 week practicum. It’s a requirement of their degree in order to graduate in December, but with the public schools closed, they’re worried there won’t be enough time to meet that goal.

“A lot of us have made a lot of plans to be finishing this semester,” Kirchmayer says. “So it’s incredibly stressful to think, what if I can’t finish my practicum and have to come back in 2015 and finish.”

For Kertes he thinks SFU needs to step up for their education students.

“[SFU needs to] say how are we going to make sure student teachers are going to make it,” Kertes says. “And make it so we can get the full practicum, get that certificate on time, so we can go and be teachers in January.”

The Faculty of Education says it may eventually have to negotiate with the body that certifies teachers to see if students can be credited for other forms of work experience.

But as it stands, if students don’t begin their school placements by mid-October, they won’t finish the semester on time — and administrators have said they will pick up the bill.

“If this semester is lost to the strike those students who enrolled and paid tuition this semester  we’d give them a tuition refund,” says Dr. Kris Magnusson, SFU Faculty of Education dean.

“So they wouldn’t be on the hook financially for something that’s out of their control.”

The future teachers say despite the uncertainty caused by the labour dispute, they still hope to work in the public school system. 

~ with files from Tanya Beja