B.C. Premier Christy Clark congratulated public school teachers and the government's bargaining agent after the groups struck a provisional deal late Tuesday.

"Students and parents (are) going to have some certainty for the next year and that's really important. We can't underestimate the importance of resuming normal activities without disruption in schools in September," Clark said.

"I do want to say thanks to the B.C. Teachers' Federation for having worked as hard as they did and brought good faith to the table and decided that they wanted to get to an agreement at the end of the day as much as we did."

The premier added she was pleased the tentative agreement was made in the context of a net zero mandate that protects taxpayers.

Public school educators spent the past year pursuing job action that saw coaching activities suspended and report cards not sent to parents. Teachers will vote either Wednesday or Thursday to accept the deal.

B.C. Teachers' Federation president Susan Lambert said in a statement the tentative deal still leaves matters unresolved, noting class sizes and compositions were not improved.

"After a long and difficult round of negotiations, we were compelled into this process under threat of huge fines and further punitive legislation," she said.

"We've concluded this agreement in order to prevent government from imposing a contract that would further erode teachers' hard-won rights and do more harm to students' learning conditions."

Mediator Charles Jago said he was pleased to assist both parties in reaching a deal.

"I am also optimistic this agreement carries the prospect of a much more positive start to the next school year."