Teachers across the province, including here in Kamloops, are holding rallies this week and next to muster support in their ongoing labour dispute with the province.

The President of the Kamloops-Thompson Teacher’s Association, Laurel McPherson was on Radio NL and said they aren’t attracting quality people because of the bottom line. “There are teachers that would like to be hired in BC but with cost of living in BC and wages that teachers get in BC, we’re actually the second lowest paid in Canada and so when you can make twenty thousand dollars more in Alberta, BC doesn’t seem such an attractive place to find a job.”

McPherson says it isn’t just wages that are under funded in the province. “When the government is funding education eighteen hundred dollars less per student than anywhere else in Canada, it really limits the amount of resources in schools and it makes the workload on teachers a lot more difficult.”

“Put all that together, the cost of living, the low wages, and then not the resources and support in schools, it’s kind of not attractive to teachers coming into the public education system.”

As far as what kind of number would improve things? “Eighteen hundred dollars per student would greatly improve the learning and working conditions in public education.”

The two rallies are set for this Wednesday at Columbia and Summit and Thursday the 12th at Fortune Drive and 8th.