Fed up with the GN, Kitikmeot educator may quit

Angry, in debt and fed up with administrative snafus, a high school teacher in the Kitikmeot region has packed his bags last week and isn't sure whether or not he will return at the end of the summer.

"I love this school and I love this job, but I'm probably going to leave because I cannot afford to subsidize the Government of Nunavut to teach here, which is what I'm doing," said the teacher, who requested anonymity for fear of GN retribution.

Last week, the teacher received his summer pay stubs. Everyone was supposed to receive five pay cheques to cover the summer.

"Many of us, me included, got four stubs and my pay was cut back by $170 per cheque," he said.

Moreover, the teacher said he has still not received the pay that his 20 years of teaching and related on-the-job experience entitles him to receive since his arrival in the Kitikmeot last August.

"Instead, I've been living off my credit card," he said.

He said he never received official acceptance for either his past teaching experience as well as related work experience, which some other teachers with a similar mix have.

The teacher said he was hired at the lowest pay scale, $49,000. That's the amount paid to beginning teachers who don't even have a teaching degree.

When he was hired, school administrators told him his certification would be recognized later.

"You take a big gamble because that's half what I should be paid. You're trusting the government that this will all be sorted out expeditiously," he said.

His current pay equals that of a teacher with only seven years of experience.

"I am still sitting here months into it and trying to get the Registrar of Nunavut Educators Qualification Service to recognize my credentials," he said. "The level of proof they are expecting is ridiculous."

As a result, he said he has been deprived of thousands of dollars in pay – even before the most recent pay mix-up.

The Nunavut Teachers Association, the union representing Nunavut teachers, said it could not comment on the teacher's case regarding his pay scale.

Ed Picco, Nunavut's minister of education, told the Nunatsiaq News that Nunavut used the same process to determine the pay levels of teachers is the same as in other provinces and territories.

"It's not a political thing," he said. "It's the same policy in every jurisdiction. Under the collective agreement, that's the process that's in place."

But Picco acknowledged that there can be problems in getting the level of documentation required for proper certification. Picco said the process took him several months when he was hired as an adult educator at Nunavut Arctic College many years ago.

Picco said he's aware of cases involving teachers' certification that have taken time to be settled. He said the registrar, who is a GN employee, addresses these cases on an individual basis.

Yet, faced with a sky-high cost of living, the financial burden for the frustrated Kitikmeot teacher may prove too much for him to bear for another year.

After taxes and rent were subtracted from his pay, the teacher said he had just enough left for food, airplane tickets to the south and the mortgage on his home there.

He said he ended up with less than $100 a day clear – much less money than could earn elsewhere.

And that was before last week's surprise cut in his pay.

The teacher said he doesn't feel the GN cares about keeping experienced teachers in Nunavut.

"The impression I get is that they don't care about getting quality teacher up here. They want warm bodies in positions."