Former School District 43 administrator Maureen Dockendorf will be advising all 60 districts in the province about ways to improve reading.
Education Minister George Abbott confirmed the announcement made earlier this year during a briefing session with B.C. media.
Dockendorf, a Port Moody resident who has been an educator since 1972 and taught kindergarten for many of those years in SD43 before rising up the ranks to the post of assistant supervisor responsible for staff development and instruction, is expected to work with groups of teachers on developing ways to engage students and boost their reading skills.
In his brief chat with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Abbott expressed hope that the school year would be more peaceful than last year when teachers took job action to protest Bill 22 and their concerns about contract negotiations.
"Twelve months ago we were seeing the start of phase one job action which tended to colour the start of the new year. We're hoping that this year will be a much better positive and harmonious year in terms of labour relations," Abbot said.
However, a new round of negotiations could start as early as next spring because the current contact expires in June, 2013. Abbott said the relationship between the BC Teachers' Federation, the government and the bargaining agent, BC Public School Employers Association will have to improve and he hopes ongoing talks about shared issues will bring that about.
WAGE HIKE?
He did touch briefly on the topic of wage gains for teachers but didn't say whether money would be on the table or if Net Zero, which requires unions to come up with savings to get improved wages or benefits, would be the prevailing option. The economy would likely have to improve before his government, if still in power, would make a change, Abbott suggested.
"Right now, I think the order of the day is a sort of collegial gains or gains that can he secured by government working with the union to try to find savings which can then be passed around."
However, he may not be around to deal with the issue as he has yet to declare whether he will run again in the May, 2013 provincial election and said he would make an announcement in the coming days.
In addition to a resumption of bargaining, Abbott said the province will continue to roll out its new BC Education Plan, which has so far collected 5,000 submissions for improving education, as well as a $195 million Learning Improvement Fund, to benefit students with special needs.
He also held out some hope for improvements in school shop classes, noting that discussions with B.C. technology education teachers shed some light on issues, such as the need for shop training for SEAS who have students in shop classes and other safety concerns.
But he wouldn't go as far as to guarantee that shop classes will be smaller in the future. "Class size - that is something the ministry is still looking at in terms of changes," Abbott said.
Class size is an issue for SD43 shop teachers, who made a presentation to the board in the spring seeking smaller classes.
