Eighty-seven per cent of New Brunswick’s 8,000 teachers voted for a five year agreement with the Brian Gallant government.
The agreement promises to add 250 school-based teachers. The Teachers’ Federation says that will help with classroom composition, which has become one of the biggest challenges for teachers.
“We have other issues such as mental illness, poverty that effect classrooms. We felt that we needed more help, more supports for those students. All students,” said Federation co-president Guy Arseneault.
There will also be no reduction of full-time equivalent teachers based on last fall’s numbers over the five years.
The five-year agreement also includes a one per cent annual wage increase and a research project that will increase the hours of instruction for some students in kindergarten through Grade 2. That project is scheduled to begin September 2018 and will include 17 schools. Instructional time for those students will increase by one hour per day and will run for three years.
New Brunswick teachers have been without a contract since February 29, 2016.
When asked about the Nova Scotia teachers’ dispute, Premier Brian Gallant said he couldn’t comment on another province’s circumstances.
“Every province finds themselves in different realities, with different challenges, different opportunities and a different set of circumstances so either one of us wouldn’t be in a position to comment in what type of circumstances another province saw themselves in,” Gallant said.
“What we can talk about is the relationship and discussion that we were able to have. Obviously it took a year so there were things we had to discuss but ultimately I think we’ve come to a really good agreement.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown.
