Teachers are being forced to take a stand against an unjust law. It's this government that intervened and passed an unjust law while we were negotiating within the rules they made.
The teachers of this province are not going to be broken.
The FSA tests are beginning to affect teaching and learning in a bad way. Because those tests are used to evaluate schools, students and classrooms, what's started to happen is teachers are being forced to teach to the test.
Teachers have the utmost respect for the law and judiciary. However, teachers voted 90.5 per cent to take a stand for public education.
Teachers have spoken clearly. We will not be bullied into accepting another legislated contract that doesn't meet the needs of our students and doesn't respect our rights as workers.
Teachers are taking a stand to protect and advocate for our students' learning conditions, for our bargaining rights and for public education.
We are very pleased the courts have affirmed our position: that as teachers we have a legal right and professional duty to speak out about issues affecting the quality of public education.