STA Candidate Profiles for Board of Education Trustee
The following trustee profiles were created based on responses to the STA’s Trustee Candidate Questionnaire.
Based on their record as trustees, where applicable, and their responses, the following candidates are recommended for endorsation by the STA:
Ijaz Chatha
Moh Chelali
Sukhy Dhillon
Charlene Dobie
Laurence Greeff
Ram Sidhu
A summary of their responses to our questions follows.
Ijaz Chatha, realtor, incumbent trustee, Surrey Civic Coalition
Mr. Chatha will advocate to restore the collective agreement language on class size and composition limits, supporting students with special needs, and staffing ratios for specialists stripped by Bills 27 and 28 and states that he will work intensively with the community and teachers to accomplish this. He is outraged by the Board’s submission to the Select Standing Committee. The trustees were not shown the document for approval. He believes that education is critically important, but does not meet the test requiring essential services designation, so he would advocate for the repeal of the essential services legislation. In addition, he supports expanded local bargaining as local solutions are needed for local issues. He believes that Surrey should present its budgetary needs to Victoria, but at this time he is not willing to violate the law by submitting an unbalanced budget. He wants to lobby Victoria to change the funding formula. On FSA testing, he believes that a test based on random sampling is the best way to see how the education system is doing. He sees teachers having full control of their own professional development.
Moh Chelali, Langley teacher, Surrey Civic Coalition
Mr. Chelali said he would advocate for public education by “reaching out to parents and all members of the public.” He is concerned about overcrowding in schools and the lack of support for students with special needs. He would like to see an end to the “portables era” in Surrey. He would also like to see a greater connection between schools and community-based child care. He supports teachers’ right to negotiate class size/composition/specialist ratios. He says that teachers should “absolutely” have the right to full free collective bargaining which includes the right to strike. He supports local bargaining. As far as district budgeting, he says that the district should budget “based on our needs and [demand] full funding.” He does not support large-scale standardized tests and believe that random sampling would avoid misuse of the FSA. He sees adult education as an “important element for Surrey” and for our “multicultural communities.” He says that private companies come and go and that their general interest in public education is “to make a profit or get publicity.” He says public-private partnership is a “disguised way of privatizing our education system.” He says professional development should be designed to allow teachers individually or collectively to enhance their practice and pursue professional growth.
Sukhy Dhillon, Delta teacher, Surrey Civic Coalition
Ms. Dhillon states that she will be a strong, public advocate, working together with parents and teachers, for the restoration of the stripped language on class size and composition, support for special needs students, and specialist staffing ratios. She will advocate for a repeal of the essential services legislation that restricts teacher’ right to strike. On supporting local bargaining, Ms. Dhillon commits to consulting with the STA. She also believes that the school board’s budget should be a needs-based budget. To that end, she states that she will consult all stakeholders to submit a budget that meets Surrey’s needs. As far as FSA testing, she has been against the FSA since the very first day. Having taught grade 4 students for about 10 years now, she has seen first-hand the dramatic negative effects of the test and subsequent publication in the newspapers. The whole morale of a school staff is affected. She will speak out publicly against the FSA and in favor of a test based on random sampling. On adult education, Ms. Dhillon started her teaching career in Delta working with adults. She has seen the loss of programs to private groups and would advocate publicly for improvements to adult education in Surrey. She will also advocate, together with the parent community, for more funding so that the district is not so heavily dependent on corporations. Finally, as a teacher herself, Ms. Dhillon supports a teacher’s professional autonomy regarding their professional development.
Charlene Dobie, Special Education Assistant, Surrey Civic Coalition
Ms. Dobie will advocate to restore the collective agreement language on class size and composition limits, supporting students with special needs, and staffing ratios for specialists stripped by Bills 27 and 28. She believes these restorations will allow for a more inclusive environment for students with special needs and the resource room ratio will improve substantially. She has first-hand experience working as a Special Education Assistant in the BASES program. She will advocate for the repeal of the essential services legislation and support the teachers’ right to negotiate class size and composition language. In addition, she supports expanded local bargaining to produce local solutions for local issues. She will work with other progressive-minded trustees to lobby the provincial government to return to expanded local bargaining. She is willing to submit a needs-based budget to Victoria as this “is one more way for them to hear our voice.” On FSA testing, Ms. Dobie believes that so much weight should not be placed on one test. Regarding corporations in schools, Ms. Dobie believes that public schools should be fully funded by Victoria. She sees no need for corporate advertising in schools. Finally, regarding professional development, she sees the teachers and school pro-d committees having full control of professional development.
Laurence Greeff, Langley teacher, Surrey Civic Coalition
Mr. Greeff believes the role of a trustee is to defend public education by advocating for the needs of the students in Surrey. He says he will do that by engaging the community in an intensified lobbying campaign to put pressure on MLA’s to put Surrey’s needs at the top of the agenda. He supports returning the stripped language to the collective agreement but the provincial government must be willing to restore the funding to offset the loss of 360 teaching positions eliminated by the stripped contract. According to Mr. Greeff, a SCC majority on school board will work together with teachers and the community to intensively lobby the provincial government to restore the stripped collective agreement declared illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of BC. He supports full collective bargaining rights. He does not believe that education requires an essential service designation. He believes that trustees should be at the table bargaining with teachers because they know the local problems best. He would be prepared to put forward resolutions for full collective bargaining rights at the BCSTA convention as well as a return to local bargaining. He also believes that we should be submitting a budget based on our needs and demanding full funding to support that budget. He will ensure that we do not run surpluses at the expense of students and that we are looking for ways to reduce administrative costs. Mr. Greeff supports the development of a random sample testing instrument to avoid misuse of skills assessment by groups like the Fraser Institute. According to Mr. Greeff, a SCC majority would consider an independent Commission of Inquiry into Adult Education to review the system in order to strengthen the service. He does not agree with P3’s and firmly believes that a SCC team would set clear ESG guidelines for corporations doing business with Surrey School District as well as establishing “no contracting out” practices for work that can be done by teachers and support staff. An SCC majority on School Board will not create classrooms or programs with corporate logos or sponsorship. In addition, very clear guidelines will limit sponsorships. Finally, Mr. Greeff believes that the teacher is a professional and determines his/her professional needs, which, in turn, will strengthen the quality of service to the students of Surrey.
Ram Sidhu, non-profit women and children’s advocate, Surrey Civic Coalition
Ms. Sidhu will advocate to restore the collective agreement language on class size and composition limits, supporting students with special needs, and staffing ratios for specialists stripped by Bills 27 and 28. Along with her SCC colleagues, she will advocate for the repeal of the essential services legislation and support the teachers’ right to negotiate class size and composition language. She supports expanded local bargaining to produce local solutions for local issues. In addition, she believes that trustees should be involved with negotiations. Ms. Sidhu is willing to submit a needs-based budget to Victoria. On FSA testing, Ms. Sidhu supports the use of a test based on a random sample to assess the strengths and weaknesses within the system. Regarding corporations in schools, Ms. Sidhu believes that public schools should be fully funded by Victoria. She firmly believes that if education funding was made a priority by the province, then the money could be found. Finally, regarding professional development, she believes that the teacher knows his/her professional needs best and should have the autonomy to choose their own professional development.
Based on their record as trustees, where applicable, and their responses to our questions, the following candidates are NOT recommended for endorsation by the STA:
Terry Allen
Paul Hillston
Pam Glass
Laurie Larsen
Reni Masi
Shawn Wilson
A summary of their responses follows:
Terry Allen, President CUPE local 379, incumbent, Surrey First Education did not respond to our questionnaire or attend an interview.
Paul Hillsdon, student, independent
Mr. Hillsdon sees the current group of trustees as not being very vocal. He states that he would be more publicly vocal to obtain the necessary funding for Surrey schools. He points to the portable issue as one that the Board should have seen coming down the road years ago and been more vocal all along rather than waiting one year before an election. He supports negotiations to restore the stripped language, but he did not commit to advocate for the restoration of the language. Mr. Hillsdon supports the rights of teachers, but would not commit to advocate for the repeal of the essential services legislation. He is not familiar with local bargaining. However, on submitting a needs-based budget, Mr. Hillsdon was in favor of such a submission as it would “show the public what we really need” to run programs. He believes having FSA tests province-wide is helpful to see where students stand, but he disagrees with the Fraser Institute’s use of the results. He would draw a line on corporations in the schools where it comes to advertising. He sees the benefits in raising funds from alternative sources although it continues the under funding of the system by the government. Regarding professional development, he supports a teacher’s professional autonomy.
Pam Glass, retired citizenship judge, incumbent, Surrey First Education
Ms. Glass committed to “nag, nag, nag” MLAs behind closed doors to ensure that Surrey receives proper funding. Regarding the restoration of stripped language, she hopes that Christy Clark will do the right thing if we lobby her collectively. She states that she was not aware of the Board’s submission to the Select Standing Committee which called for the elimination of class size limits and averages. Ms. Glass believes that it is the role of the BCTF, not the district, to advocate for teachers’ full and free rights to bargain collectively. She would like to sit down with government and union representatives and discuss why it is important to bargain locally. She cannot explain why the Board has not submitted a needs-based budget, but she would hope to sit down with organizations to make representations to government about Surrey’s needs. Regarding the FSA’s she asked, “Why would it not help teachers by having the results published? … What would you put in its place?” She asked us to present our concerns to the government. (Ms. Glass was reminded that the STA has made its concerns known about the FSA’s to government over many years.) Ms. Glass also indicated that in her 12 years on the School Board as a Trustee that they had not discussed the benefits of the FSA. She also indicated that she was in favor of bringing in corporations to provide needed resources even if it allows government off the hook as long as it was “controlled properly” by the School Board. As for professional development, Ms. Glass does not believe that the employer should dictate to an employee what they can or cannot do for their career development. She sees the district’s role as one of helping teachers advance their professional development because it will benefit the teachers and their students.
Laurie Larsen, President of CUPE local 402, Surrey First Education
Ms. Larsen would use the means available to advocate for public education – lobbying MLAs, city councils, Ministers of Education and Finance in addition to DPAC and the Board of Trade. Lobbying efforts would include letter writing, liaison meetings, one-on-one meetings. She believes in the restoration of bargained language and she commits to convince fellow Trustees of the importance of collective bargaining. On the Board’s recommendation to the government to eliminate class size limits and averages, Ms. Larsen responds as follows, “Current system does not give a fair and accurate account of reporting out of IEPs. I think there needs to be a review of how it is done and a more transparent way for teachers to voice their concerns.” Ms. Larsen believes in free collective bargaining and supports the repeal of the government’s legislation which restricts our right to bargain freely. She also supports a return to expanded local bargaining, but would require the government to give Trustees control of the funding. Regarding the submission of a needs-based budget, Ms. Larsen writes, “As a trustee, I am legislated to submit a balanced budget. However, if we were given the funds by government to submit a needs-based budget, I would certainly consider the requests from all groups…I wouldn’t imagine the STA or any group asking us not to fulfill our mandate as legislated and the oath we take.” Regarding her position on the FSA, Ms. Larsen explained, “The same data could be achieved through random testing or in-house assessment without having the results publicized which rates schools against each other. There could be a better way to meet the requirement of assessment as mandated currently.” On the deterioration of adult education, Ms. Larsen says she will advocate for an improvement by lobbying and advocating to groups and the other Trustees to expand the Adult Ed program. She believes that conversations should take place between students, teachers, and Trustees before changes are made. Ms. Larsen is firmly opposed to public-private partnerships. Regarding professional development, she writes, “I think the funding should be given by the district and the STA or any TA should then be able to determine the needed professional development. There should be clear “career pathing” discussions and plans available to each teacher and the necessary tools/courses available to reach those goals.”
Reni Masi, retired principal, former MLA (Liberal), incumbent, Surrey First Education
Mr. Masi does not believe in a full restoration of our rights stripped by Bills 27 and 28. He believes there should probably be some movement back based on the negotiations with government by the BCTF. As for the report to the Select Standing Committee, Mr. Masi believes that the current class size and composition limits are not realistic for our district. He would like to see more teaching assistants in some classes to help offset the higher number of IEPs or the more difficult behaviours. He also sees the class size averaging in the legislation as being difficult to deal with for the Board. He said that classes of 15 and 16 at the primary level, which are created to get the district’s average down to the required number, are expensive. Issues like the full and free right to bargain and strike do not “come across our desk” and “That’s provincial. We’re more concerned about building schools in Surrey.” Regarding expanded local bargaining, Mr. Masi said that the board does not have that mandate and, “if you’re talking dollars and cents, that’s not going to happen.” Regarding the Board not submitting a needs-based budget, he said, “What’s the point? It’s pie in the sky when you’re not going to get it.” His response to whether he would submit a needs-based budget, “No. I wouldn’t be submitting a needs-based budget.” With respect to the FSA testing, Mr. Masi said, “What’s wrong with it? You can find out where you are and do something about it.” Regarding the BCTF’s opposition to FSA’s, he said, “Are you sure it’s not just to protect teachers?” Regarding the deterioration of adult education, Mr. Masi said, “I can’t accept that question. There’s been a re-organization, but that was really needed.” With respect to corporate involvement in schools, he said, “We get about $2 million a year from the corporate world, but we put it to good use. There’s a point where it could be overdone, but I don’t know what that would be.” Regarding teacher control of professional development, Mr. Masi said, “I’ve seen some really good PD days and some really bad ones.” He went further to say, “I don’t know the answer to that. I wish there was more consistency.”
Shawn Wilson, retired business owner, incumbent, Surrey First Education
Mr. Wilson has been a member of the Board for 12 years and believes that the restoration of our collective agreement language as it was prior to 2002 as being “not sustainable.” He makes no apologies for the Board’s submission to the Select Standing Committee which called for the elimination of class size limits and averages. He states that he has “always supported a full right to strike, but class size and composition should not be the sole realm of teachers.” He does not indicate that he would advocate for the repeal of essential services legislation. Mr. Wilson would only advocate for local bargaining “along side a return of taxing authority for school districts.” He believes that it would be unreasonable to expect a trustee to support a needs-based budget. Regarding the FSA, he has “always supported measures that are made mandatory by government.” He does not indicate a willingness to publicly advocate for the discontinuation of the FSA even though he does not like “how FSA outcomes are shared with other organizations.”
Regarding Adult Education, he does not agree that this area has suffered much deterioration over the years. He believes that necessary restructuring was undertaken by the Board. Regarding professional development, Mr. Wilson thinks “this should really be a partnership between management and teachers to define best practice for the profession.”
The following candidates’ responses were not received in time to be considered for endorsation:
Malkiat Singh Kang
Anne Van Rhyn
Malkiat Singh Kang
Mr. Kang is a retired teacher and principal. He supports more funding for education and he stated that he would try to obtain funding from the minister of education and the minister of finance; he did not specify actions he would take to accomplish this. His main areas of concern appear to be the huge number of portables in the district and the lack of support for students with special needs. When asked whether he supports the restoration of class size/composition/ratios language which was stripped by the provincial government in 2002, he stated, “Laws in the past were never perfect. Gradually these laws had been changed. These laws will continue to change for the best interest of our children.” When asked if he supports teachers’ right to strike he answered: “I hope that teachers don’t take this drastic measure. It is a democratic society we live in. Sometimes if all the means to settle are exhausted some kinds of reasonable force may be used to settle down the dust.” Regarding the FSA, he feels that the test is “time consuming.” On Adult Education, he would like to see the following: “More evening class facility. More funding. On-line schooling. Student loans. Family support if adults are married and have children.” Mr. Kang was silent on the issue of submitting a needs-based budget.
Anne Van Rhyn, Special Education Assistant, independent
Anne Van Rhyn is committed to advocating publicly for equitable funding from Victoria. She will encourage parents to be actively involved in lobbying for their children’s education and will write letters in support of Surrey’s teachers and students. Ms. Van Rhyn believes that the government’s inaction in reinstating the stripped contract language “may hinder education for all students.” She is also alarmed, as a Special Education Assistant, that she “may be designated as LST, without the training or expertise that specialist teachers bring to the job.” Regarding support for teachers’ right to full and free collective bargaining, she says, “I do believe teachers should have the right to strike though I am concerned about the impact an extended strike may have on student learning and the ability of many of the ‘working poor’ to ensure that their children are safe and supervised.” She believes “local bargaining is healthy and necessary and that ‘one size does not fit all.’” She also believes “that our School Board representative on the BC School Trustees Association should be advocating for this change [to local bargaining] and that our Board of Education should definitely be vocal about this matter.” On the proposition of submitting a needs-based budget, Ms. Van Rhyn says that she would submit a needs-based budget even though the Ministry has the power to dismiss any Board of Education that does not file a balanced budget–which would negatively impact her family’s income since she will have to quit her job as an SEA if she is elected to serve as trustee. Regarding the FSA, Ms. Van Rhyn states that “teachers need to have the freedom to utilize assessments they feel are appropriate for their students. Standardized tests evaluate limited areas of student learning and skill development and may discourage those who learn differently, have other abilities or are progressing at their own rate…. Assessment should be of direct value to the learner and promote learning.” On Adult Education, Ms. Van Rhyn believes that options should include opportunities for on-line learning, with necessary teacher support available. Regarding the role of corporations in schools, Ms. Van Rhyn has seen the benefits of having new, faster computers in computer labs and revitalized libraries, but she is concerned about the advertising of specific corporations in schools. She feels that “such contracts must be carefully scrutinized and should not be viewed as a suitable replacement for necessary funding, supplanting Ministry of Education obligations.” About the question concerning teacher autonomy over professional development, Ms. Van Rhyn stated she believes control should not be top-down, and feels that “the school community should determine the direction for the school and be enabled to follow initiatives that groups of teaching professionals are excited to get behind.” She also sees the value in district PD days on an annual or semi-annual basis.