Province could pay $7.5M for cancelling controversial teacher upgrades

The Nova Scotia government will compensate teachers who were approved to take, but ultimately banned from completing, controversial courses from an American university, to the tune of up to $7.5 million.

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union filed a grievance in April 2015 following a decision by then-education minister Karen Casey to disallow teachers to use courses from Iowa-based Drake University for the purposes of completing an integrated program, which upgrades a teaching certificate and leads to a pay raise.

A program of 30 credit hours allowed teachers to apply for an upgraded licence and pay raise of between $6,000 and $8,000.

Many of the teachers were taking coaching courses from Drake that didn't require any interaction with faculty and relied on DVDs. Casey's ban on the courses was ultimately extended to teachers who received pre-approval from the government to take the courses, but had yet to complete them.

In a ruling released last month, arbitrator Eric Slone approved a sliding scale of compensation for the 476 teachers affected by the government's decision.

Arbitrator's award

Every teacher granted pre-approval for a program based on Drake courses before March 3, 2015, but didn't complete their program before that date gets $300 "as damages for inconvenience and hardship."

Affected teachers who went on to complete their programs are entitled to compensation for the difference in the cost of any courses used to replace Drake offerings and a retroactive pay bump for completing their program based on the lesser of either a three-year delay or the "actual provable delay."

For affected teachers yet to complete their program, they will be able to either abandon the effort and be compensated for the cost of all courses to that point (not limited to Drake courses) or complete their program and be eligible for the same compensation as those who already finished their work.

Labour Relations Minister Mark Furey said the total cost of the ruling would be about $7.5 million if all affected teachers complete their integrated programs.

'A mess we didn't create'

Teachers union president Paul Wozney welcomed the decision, which he said was "the best possible solution, given a mess that we didn't create."

"It was painstaking, it was slow, but this is literally the rock-bottom best thing that we could come up with to try to make as many people as whole as possible," he said.

While some of the affected teachers carried on and completed their programs using other courses, Wozney said many were waiting to see how the grievance would be resolved.

"This snap decision ultimately has put the brakes on a lot of people doing legitimate learning that ultimately turns into benefits for students and communities," he said.

Slone's ruling also calls for time extensions for teachers to complete their programs. Normally, there is a seven-year limit to finish the work, but Slone added four years to that for affected teachers. Teachers will also be allowed to redefine their programs based on options outlined in the ruling.

Furey said the government would ensure the obligations are met.

Despite the cost of the award, the minister said he believes the government handled the matter appropriately. He said all courses now being submitted by teachers for approval as part of integrated programs meet an appropriate standard.

"We're satisfied that the attention brought to this and the outcome has given confidence to the process and other options do exist."