There's a crisis in education!
I know because I read the front page of last week's Chief and it told me so.
I wish I could say this was news, but I've known for almost a decade that a crisis has been looming. Teachers have been telling this story since the late 90's, but it seems that only now that the media has picked it up; now that the cuts are so visible that it's impossible to ignore, and the "spin" from the government is just too ridiculous to believe.
Speak to anyone with more 15 years teaching experience in public schools in BC and ask them how the learning conditions of their students have changed. To a person, they'll tell you that class size has increased, class composition has got worse, resources have got scarcer, library and counselling services have been cut and the same number of elective classes are no longer being offered.
In short, students in BC public schools today do not have the same educational opportunities that students had in the mid-90's.
The evidence is irrefutable.
Statistic Canada research show that between 1999 and 2005, per capita spending in BC increased only $2 (in 1992 constant dollars). Contrast that with Saskatchewan where the per capita increase was $193. During the same period education spending in BC as a percentage of GDP went from 2.7% above the national average to almost 6% below the national average. And funding has not kept up with inflation-let alone with labour settlements reached with teachers and support staff.
"But," I hear you asking, "hasn't the Minister said that more money goes into education than ever before? Are you saying she is lying?"
Now, I won't call the Minister a liar, but I will say she (and her predecessors) are prevaricators, equivocators and dissemblers.
Since 2001, this government's strategy has been to tell only part of the story, the part that makes them look good. All the bad stuff-the downloading of costs, the new bureaucracies, etc.-have been conveniently left out of the discussions. And teachers' expression of concern have been dismissed as belly-aching.
But the provincial government isn't the only villain in this piece. Local school boards also have to shoulder some of the responsibility. While teachers have been vocal in expressing their concerns, until recently trustees around the province have been quiet and almost compliant with the government. The provincial government gave boards more freedom to make more funding decisions, which the boards quite enjoyed, but slowly held back funding until the only choice became what to cut. They have become the willing henchmen and women of the government.
Now that it's all falling apart, perhaps it's time for the school boards around the province to push back. They should all simply refuse to impose this round of cuts. They should all present deficit budgets (which are illegal) and dare the government to fire them all.
It's only symbolic, of course, but the only way to stop a bully is to stand up to him. Sometimes you'll end with a bloody nose, but at least then you can look in the mirror and know you've done the right thing.
