Teachers in 91原创 are celebrating today.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of their Supreme Court win.

But at the same time, 91原创 Teachers鈥� Association president Wendy Cook is urging the local school district to fix outstanding issues.

鈥淥ne year after the BC Teachers鈥� Federation鈥檚 landmark victory that ordered the restoration of our pre-2002 collective agreement, teachers in 91原创 are celebrating the positive changes that have come to our schools as a result,鈥� Cook said.

There have been 鈥渟ignificant鈥� improvements and gains for 91原创 schools, in particular, she explained, pointing to smaller and 鈥渕ore appropriate鈥� class sizes across the district, an increase of 270-plus full-time teaching positions, addition of 25 new teacher librarian positions as key changes that she insists are having a 鈥減ositive impact鈥� on both teachers and students.

鈥淪ince the BCTF鈥檚 Supreme Court victory on Nov. 10, 2016, teachers in 91原创 have been working hard to ensure our restored collective agreement language is implemented correctly to ensure students see improvements to their learning conditions and our members see improvements to their working conditions,鈥� added Cook.

鈥淎fter 16 years of cuts and underfunding, it鈥檚 refreshing and exciting to see resources flowing back into our schools鈥� The next step that will really make a huge difference for our schools and students is to get the district to move on some important outstanding concerns. Despite clear language in our restored collective agreement, and the agreement between the BCTF and the employers鈥� association, the 91原创 school district has made some poor decisions that are holding up important changes.鈥�

The school district has not made 鈥渆nough effort鈥� to improve class composition, meet the caseload language for English Language Learners (ELL) and resource teachers, or addressed the shortage of teachers on call.

鈥淒ue to the [teacher on call] shortage in 91原创, resource teachers are being removed from their regular classrooms to cover other areas that are short staffed. 91原创 school district shouldn鈥檛 be taking these critical supports away from students who need them,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e need the 91原创 school district to live up to their responsibilities and meet the terms of the restored collective agreement without taking away existing supports for students.鈥�

鈥� More to come