Dear Editor:
Much of the chatter today is about those greedy teachers who, we are repeatedly told by provincial government forces, are demanding pay increases of 15 per cent in these hard times when the B.C. Liberals can barely scrape up half a billion dollars to fix a football stadium.
That 15 per cent pay raise seems enormous, but is it really as huge as it sounds? It breaks down to a three-per cent cost of living adjustment the first year and another three per cent for each of the next two years along with two three-per cent pay increases. As it is, B.C. teachers' pay ranks eighth in the country.
Vancouver teachers receive a minimum of about $48,000 and a maximum of $74,300. That might seem quite generous, but it fares poorly against the money our MLAs have voted for themselves. The most obscure back-bencher pulls down $101,859, plus special living allowances for time spent in Victoria, office costs and travel allowances. While freezing teacher pay, these politicians upped their money by 34 per cent since 2007.
When you consider that much of the day-to-day work of government is carried out by professional bureaucrats, one might wonder if these MLAs really deserve twice as much remuneration as those who teach our children.
Tony Eberts, New Westminster
