Report: BC Teachers College is dysfunctional

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The college that regulates and disciplines teachers in BC has been condemned as “dysfunctional” in a report that says the agency should probably be scrapped.

The damning report by provincially-appointed reviewer Don Avison says the BC College of Teachers works more to protect teachers’ interests than the public, and is essentially controlled by the BC Teachers Federation.  The report says the college should be restructured, replaced or scrapped entirely, with its responsibilities absorbed by the provincial government.

But the head of the BC College of Teachers says he hopes he can prove his group can successfully put the public interest ahead of teachers.

Kit Krieger says he will plead with Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid to prove they can be an effective overseer of teachers.”If I can persuade her that we can do that, I’d like a second chance.  However, a pre-condition for that is the separation of the Federation from the College.”

MacDiarmid herself says the status quo isn’t acceptable, especially given information that a convicted sex offender and drug trafficker were given back their teaching certificates. “It’s very important for the public to know that we will be taking steps. One of the questions I think is, about the status quo, and we will not be continuing with the college the way it is now.”

Susan Lambert with the BC Teachers Federation says the report implies that the Federation interferes with individual disciplinary cases, and that’s just not the case. “We are left kind of perplexed as to what the intention of the report is and why it’s been released without any consultation with us.”

She denies the BCTF “controls” the College of Teachers. “We do not interfere with any individual discipline cases that are before the college.”

The BC College of Teachers is a self-regulatory body that oversees more than 70,000 educators and enforces professional standards.