I remember when Abbott was appointed minister that the teachers union had hope that he might understand their situation -- wow were they wrong! According to the Global TV coverage of the non-negotiations that went on for, what, 18 months? -- each side used its own calculations to project costs. Seems to me that the cost issue might have been put aside for a minute and they might have begun to talk about issues, reached some general agreements about conditions and then started hammering out the finances. Now, it seems that the province has announced this big new plan as a way of getting attention off of the mess they've made of negotiating with teachers. Well, BC may have been 'dumbed-down' over the years (as one university professor claims) but I hope we aren't dumb that we won't see through this ploy!