Most eligible families are taking the B.C. government up on its offer of money to cover daycare costs during the three-week teachers' strike, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance.
But the ministry is not confirming how much will be paid out for the $40-a-day Temporary Education Support for Parents payments until the end of January 2015, the deadline for families to register.
Still, it looks like most families with children 12 and under are applying for the payment, which will result in a payout of $520 per student for the 13 days lost to strike. As of Monday, nearly 210,000 families had applied for TESP for 285,000 students, or nearly 92% of those eligible.
It looks like the province will be paying out more than $148 million considering the value of the payments and the number of eligible children and, as of the end of June, the last date when figures are available, the province had saved $163 million due to the strike, according to ministry figures.
But not all parents will be keeping the cash, according to Chuck Denison, president of the District 43 Parent Advisory Council.
"There are people, certainly, who feel strongly enough in their desire to have that money to go back into the education system," he said, adding that he has heard some parents are donating the funds back to their schools for a tax receipt, adding, "Kudos to them, that's very generous."
There are also many families that need the money, Denison said.
According to the ministry, cheques will be issued and mailed to addresses provided during registration and most payments will be sent out by the end of October.
