Teacher Mike Cavaletto talks with students from the MYVoice outreach choir program at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School in Vancouver in December 2011. (Ben Nelms for The Globe and Mail)

Ramona Chu, a Coquitlam mom of three, has been a parent volunteer in the school system for 17 years. Two of her children have already graduated. She blames both sides for the deadlock at the bargaining table.

“My kids have had access to services that are being cut and won’t be there for others,” she said. She called on the government to show leadership, and to find ways to save money without reducing services like speech pathology, music and libraries.

“It’s a fight between the government and the BCTF, and they have both lost sight of the kids.”