Thread: TOC Crisis in BC

Here in BC (Canada) there is a drastic TOC Crisis that I thought some of you may be interested in. Many TOC's aren't getting any work and suffering, mostly due to the government's cut backs.

Here is a compilation of some of the feedback I have received on my query about the situation of TOCs across the province of British Columbia.

Let me know what you think!

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(some of the following have been edited for brevity)

10 Arrow Lakes Teachers' Association
Our district is unfortunately one of the smallest in the province and the cut-backs have hit us hard. I have yet to get a day's work and I am not the only one. Our area has been hit hard by the controls over the soft wood industry, hospitals, and ferries (to name a few) and there are many families without a major bread winner. Consequently, the enrolment has also dropped slightly as people leave to work in higher employment area.
Because of our size, call-out is initiated by either the school secretary or the principal. There are no designated times of call and there is basically no system of selection, i.e. rotation, seniority, random, etc. To add insult to injury, our board has decided to implement a new "tracking system" for all toc call outs in order to eventually obtain statistics. It is difficult to get sympathy from people who are working full-time and have a regular salary.
Personally, I am no longer entitled to EI. I was cut off last January due to lack of work. What happened to my once promising careers in teaching?
--(Mrs.) D. Smolik

33 Chilliwack Teachers' Association
Work has definitely dropped so far this year from last. The Chilliwack district is supposedly one of the better ones to be in at this time of cutbacks, but things are not particularly rosy here either. I have worked about 10 days so far this year (I had about twice that at the same time last year). I know that there are people now on our TOC list who had temp. contracts last year. But I was also told today that more TOCs (about 8, I think) have been hired to our list just last week. Guess the board office knows of upcoming shortages that aren't yet apparent. As a TOC, I feel that we are in the dark about most matters (ie., how many new TOCs are on the list, is work being distributed as evenly as possible?, etc.).
--Jackie Bramble

35 Langley Teachers' Association
Many TOC's I know (including me) are working one day a week on average. I wouldn't be able to get by without the EI, that's for sure. I'm lucky I had my own class last year and qualified for EI. What are all the other TOC's doing? Getting jobs in grocery stores and restaraunts.
--K. Hoodicoff

36 Surrey Teachers' Association
In the past, Surrey TOCs have worked every single day they wanted to beginning in mid-September. There are still TOCs who work only once a week this year. They are calling into the automated dispatch with such frequency the lines are constantly busy and teachers are having a difficult time getting through to book an absence.
Surrey is the biggest district in BC. We have over 800 TOCs on our list. With retired teachers, laid off teachers, and the newly hired TOCs, things are not looking good for our members this year. We have a poll on our listserv and a large majority have second jobs as they cannot pay their bills.
There is great concern in Surrey for the future of TOCs. I posted your email on our ListServ. When the replies start, I will
forward them to you if you want.
--Carrie Gabriele

37 Delta Teachers' Association
I am a TOC in the Surrey & Delta school districts. From Jan - June this year, I never went a day without a call, sometimes more than one call from the Surrey district. This year, I am lucky to get a call once a week. Between the two districts, I average 2 days per week or less! Pretty slim job opportunities here! Thank goodness for EI or I am sure the TOC population would be in dire straits!
--Nicole Lewis

38 Richmond Teachers' Association
Richmond…is terrible. In Richmond many TOC's have been called in 2 or 3 times since school started. And now Richmond is talking about closing schools!
--Tina K

391 Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' Association
Here in VESTA our laid-off teachers have contract provisions that give them priority over TOCs. Laid-off teachers are called out first on a seniority basis. There are over two hundred laid-off teachers with no positions out of almost 400 laid-off in June 2002. About 50 of those with jobs will be out of work Dec. 31 because their positions are temporary. They will then go on the recall list which gives them their priority call-out. If there is a large demand as there was two weeks ago when VESTA used 150+ TOCs on both Tuesday and Wednesday, then some of our TOCs in addition to laid-off teachers were called out.
Our TOCs seem to be getting 2 days a month. A crisis -- probably -- especially if you think ahead to another round of lay-offs in Spring 2003. There is less call for TOCs for in-service during instructional time. Teachers on part-time contracts do NOT have the right to TOC work even in their own school. If you are in an enrolling partnership, 60/40 as an example, you continue to have the right to cover each other's absence due to illness in a reciprocal manner.
--Patricia Gudlaugson

43 Coquitlam Teachers' Association
The situation in Coquitlam is not much better than other districts in the Greater Vancouver region. Our district has 40-50 TOC call-outs per day, and we have more than 300 TOCs on the list. You can do the Math.
--Wah-Kee Ting

54 Bulkley Valley Teachers' Union
I have had no calls yet this year. There are fifty certified TOCs on our list this year and we only have approx. 180 teachers in our district, some part time, some full time. I also know that our district has reduced the TOC budget per school.
--Lianne Eichstadter

60 Peace River North Teachers' Association
No waiting list for TOC's and accept non certified people on their list.

61 Greater Victoria Teachers' Association
I've had about five calls so far this year (two of those were half-days). I know it's differnet this year because in the past I've had at least one call per week during all parts of the year. I have to work a second job--there's no choice….Of course there's a catch-22 with this: a second job allows us to pay our bills, but a second job can prevent us from taking the longer term assignments that would allow us to build the seniority that would eventually lead to a teaching position. End result: I took my library job again this year and I'm not getting any calls.
--Shannon McFerran

65 Cowichan District Teachers' Association
Yes, definitely work has dropped in our district. Last year I was fortunate to have a 0.4FTE contract - this year, nothing. In my school alone last year, out of 4 teachers who were on temporary contracts, only one was renewed for this year. That means three additional teachers who are now on the TOC list, increasing competition for daily work. Travelling from school to school I have heard the same comments. There are several teachers who had contracts the last two years who are on the TOC list this year. Speaking to many TOC's, there are a few who have been almost full-time, but the majority have received far fewer calls than that, with many barely working at all.
--Lisa Marshall

71 Comox District Teachers' Association
[We are trying] to get a cap on the TOC list here. TOCs are travelling from Nanaimo, Parksville/ Qualicum, and Campbell River as their TOC lists are long closed. Our list appears to be perennially open. Our President Jean Kotcher is currently advocationg this on our behalf but the school board admin. is in shambles, practically all new staff so, of course, we TOCs are bottom of the priority pile again. Another concern now is future Evaluation of TOC performance by schools. More than that I don't know, but it's kind of spooky.
-- Gwyn Sproule

81 Fort Nelson District Teachers' Association
Unlike most of the province we have a drastic shortage of TOC's in our district. It is not uncommon for teens who are not old enought to buy alcohol, to be "TOCing" in our district's classrooms. Students who should be recieving a qualified teacher in their classroom when their teacher is away, often have someone who is not only not certified, but is not qualified, to give instruction, mark work, or handle issues in a professional manner.
We are at a crisis here when uncertified people can make a living as a "sub" and have no incentive or requirement to go back to school to become certified. If in isolated districts it becomes ok to de-skill our profession, I would not want bigger districts to get wind of this "money saving prospect."
I am sure Teachers in larger districts will not believe me when I tell them that our district put an ad for "TOC's" in the newspaper
citing highschool graduation as manditiory and some college courses an asset.
--Tracy Taylor