Teachers celebrated a bittersweet victory, followed by a loss, this morning when their announcement of a membership vote in favour of withdrawing from extracurricular activities was followed by the Labour Relations Board's ruling that they must issue retroactive report cards next week.

Around 75 per cent of public school teachers participated in a three-day vote to approve the BC Teachers' Federation's (BCTF) Action Plan, which includes an immediate withdrawal of extracurricular services, and the possibility of a future province-wide walkout. A majority of 73 per cent of those who voted approved of the plan, which begins Monday and runs until the end of the school year in June.

BCTF President Susan Lambert told media this morning that the government received three signs in the past 24 hours that their treatment of teachers has not won public favour, referring to the teachers' vote and two byelections last night that saw the New Democratic Party gain two more seats in the provincial legislature.

"We hope that this is a signal to government to come to the table and treat us with respect, and sincerely approach the dispute to making a collective agreement, creating for and with teachers a collective agreement we can all mutually benefit from," she says.

Although extracurricular activities are voluntary, and almost half of BCTF members either didn't participate in the vote or voted against the Action Plan, Lambert says the union has an expectation that teachers' will respect the outcome of the vote and withdraw.

When asked if non-compliant teachers' would be punished by the union, Lambert said that wasn't the union's place.

"The federation itself doesn't generally take any action, we depend on moral suasion," she says.

Shortly after Lambert's press conference, the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) released its ruling on report cards, saying the teachers did in fact have to complete retroactive report cards as per Bill 22: The Education Improvement Act, due April 27.

The teachers had brought the issue to the LRB, arguing they had remained in contact with parents without report cards, and would not do retroactive work.

Education Minister George Abbott says he's glad parents will be receiving a "fulsome" report card next week.

"We believe that it's very important for 520,000 public school students and their parents that they have the opportunity to know how their child is doing in school," he told reporters in Vancouver this morning.

Abbott says government is disappointed in the teachers' vote, and that previous experience has shown teachers, regardless of whether they comply with the movement to withdraw from extracurricular activities, will experience more pressure at school.

"It has invariably caused enormous tensions in classrooms before and particularly in staff rooms, and I hope that the BCTF will respect the right of every teacher to make their own decisions," he said.

Abbott added that public opinion on the teachers' dispute has been split almost 50-50, and the government views the results of last night's byelections as the result of the Harmonized Sales Tax rather than anything to do with the BCTF.

Meanwhile, the LRB is expected to release a second ruling today on the appointment of Charles Jago as mediator between the BCTF and their employer, the BC Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA). The BCTF says Jago is not qualified to be mediator because he has no mediation experience and is the author of a 2006 government report that is critical of teachers.

Katie Hyslop reports on youth issues and education for The Tyee Solutions Society.