The B.C. Teachers' Federation has reached a deal with the B.C.
Public School Employers' Association to put an end to the year-long heated labour dispute.
The tentative deal was to be put to a vote among teachers across the province by today - the last official day of the school year.
Delta Teachers' Association president Paul Steer said he recommended Delta teachers vote in favour of the two-year deal, which he says will return a degree of calm to B.C.'s troubled educational system.
He said the agreement provides no allowance for any cost-of-living adjustment or salary increase.
One improvement is the standardized benefits agreement, which should see small benefit improvements to teachers in 75 per cent of BCTF locals, including Delta, he said.
"In Delta, teachers, who are all well-educated, many of whom have invested heavily in their own postgraduate study in areas of specialization, are fully committed to the success of their students, and see themselves as an integral part of the community.
Teachers will not be the only ones who will be looking forward a year of relative calm before contract negotiations resume again, probably in the spring of 2013," he said.
Steer added there has been "a real and worrisome erosion" of services to students in public schools over the past decade.
"Government's record on educational issues is grim. At least 22 pieces of government legislation have defined government's attitude toward public education over the years. Cumulatively, these bills add up to a negative record that cannot be concealed by flowery media releases of minor funding announcements," Steer said.
Steer said he hopes is that the Delta community will take a direct interest in the long-term health of schools and start to demand that services to students, their families and the community are steadily and rationally improved.
Premier Christy Clark congratulated both sides, also acknowledging mediator Charles Jago and Education Minister George Abbott in reaching what she described as a fair deal that falls under the net zero mandate. She said the government remains committed to balancing the budget.
BCTF president Susan Lambert said the agreement leaves important matters unresolved and provides no improvements to class size and composition.
She said despite the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that Bills 27 and 28 are unconstitutional and invalid, government refused to redress this legislation, which stripped teachers' collective agreements, restricted their bargaining rights, and eliminated provisions for class size and composition, as well as staffing ratios for teachers who served students with special needs.
Public school teachers had been without a new contract for a year.
Delta teachers agreed to withdraw participating in voluntary extracurricular activities this spring, prompting some functions to be cancelled.
