Glen Hansman reflects on past 3 years as B.C. Teachers' Federation president

Glen Hansman, the B.C. Teacher's Federation president since 2016, has faced everything from strikes to teacher shortages during his time on the job.

Now, the end of his tenure is in sight after Teri Mooring was elected president on Tuesday.

Hansman spoke with CBC's The Early Edition guest host Laura Lynch for his views on the issues facing teachers today.

You're not out of your role just yet, so let's start with contract negotiations. What will BCTF be pushing for in 2019?

Our negotiationsand many issues that are happening at the schools right noware in the context of a system that still isn't funded properly.

There are a lot of issues that have to be grappled with, particularly when it comes to ensuring that there are adequate services for students with special needs in all the 60 school districts around the province.

That doesn't sound like contract negotiations as much as cleaning up from after the court ruling that was supposed to get more funding into the classrooms.

We're very happy that there's been jobs added back into the system as well as the seismic upgrades and new school constructions.

Buton the operational side, we haven't really seen an improvement.

We're still waiting to attend to so many things that parents and our students have been looking forward to changing.

When does your patience run out with the NDP government?

Well, I'm passing on the baton.My term ends at the end of June and that's the last day of our collective agreement.

It would be nice to be able to wrap that up before I'm done but, as with all my predecessors, things remain a work in progress

I suspect that some of these conversations will be ones that we have in the fall, especially when it comes to shortages in the workforce.

One thing I've been hearing from parents is that spring break lasts two weeks in Vancouver, leaving them on the hook for extra day care. Why do we still have it and will it ever change?

This was not the case 10 years ago the previous government loosened up the rules around school calendars and that's why we see the diversity around the province in terms of when spring breaks are occurring.

In effect, it's one week of spring break and a one week school closure for budget-saving purposes, but it does put child-care burdens on parents.

I suspect that trustees will continue to hear from families about this, but it's still going to be a factor until funding is corrected.

This interview aired on CBC's The Early Edition on March 19 and had been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full interview below: