http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/26/bc-teachers-college-legislation.html

The B.C. government is replacing the B.C. College of Teachers with a new structure that will reduce the B.C. Teachers Federation’s control over disciplinary issues.

Education Minister George Abbott introduced the changes with new legislation in Victoria on Wednesday.

The new B.C. Teachers Council will still be made up of a majority of BCTF members, but the teachers will not have a majority on the new disciplinary and professional conduct board and its individual disciplinary panels.

There will be 15 people in total on the council, including:

• Three BCTF appointees.
• Five teachers elected by members from around the province.
• Seven education partners appointed by the government made up of school trustees, principals, and other officials.
• One non-voting member/observer appointed by the government, likely a deputy minister.

The BC Coalition of Parent Advisory Councils has documents about the BCCT, including the Avison report and a brief summary of the issues written for parents:

http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/representation/BCCTFactFind.aspx

The B.C. College of Teachers has received a lot of publicity lately. It always seems to be in turmoil, and the report produced by Don Avison, and released by the Ministry of Education in December 2010, told us once more that it was not functioning as it should. Some parents might assume that the College is none of our business and we should leave it to educators to sort out. That’s not the case. The College exists to “protect the public interest”—and the public interest is our children.