VANCOUVER SUN
Latest News

Kids don't benefit from stop-gap solutions
Concerns, challenges and feelings of support -- three views on the teachers' strike

Jennifer Chen
Vancouver Sun

Monday, October 10, 2005

Lori Cumiskey is a Grade 2 teacher at Gray elementary school in North Delta who has seen the school library closed more often, while art and music teachers have disappeared from schools due to cutbacks.

That leaves sparsely staffed schools scrambling, and students are not benefitting from the patchwork remedies.

Many teachers without arts expertise are expected to fill in the gaps. "Trying to cover all the curriculum is tough," Cumiskey says.

Cumiskey knows it's wishful thinking to ask for arts funding, but at the very least, she says, class sizes should be capped from grades four through seven. "The class sizes are just getting too big."

"Then we've got all the special-needs students and the ESL students," she adds.

She wants people to remember that many teachers are parents, too. With two children, a three-year-old and a nine-month-old, she's not eager to see them in classes of 30 or more. "The teachers feel the same as the parents do."

Cumiskey has taught for about eight years in the Lower Mainland and usually works a nine-hour day while she's teaching.

Currently, the Gray elementary teacher is on maternity leave until the spring. But she plans to go to Lord Kitchener, a school near her home in Vancouver, to see if she can hoist a picket sign or supply coffee and cookies, and offer support.

Given the government's stand and the circumstances, she doesn't think the strike will last long. "It's tough on the kids and it's tough on the parents," she says.

"Personally, I don't care about a pay raise. I prefer better working conditions, especially because I have two kids of my own."

Interview with Lori Cumiskey.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005