June 17, 2010

EDUCATORS STAND WITH OPPOSITION TO DENOUNCE EDUCATION NEGLECT

BC OFFICIAL OPPOSITION MEDIA RELEASE

June 17, 2010

EDUCATORS STAND WITH NEW DEMOCRATS TO DENOUNCE B.C. LIBERAL EDUCATION NEGLECT

B.C. Liberals’ broken promise to protect education will hurt future economic prosperity

VANCOUVER – With school districts around the province facing funding shortfalls, respected education experts stood with New Democrat MLAs Wednesday to denounce the impact of the B.C. Liberals’ broken promise to protect education.

The Vancouver School Board faces making drastic program cuts this week needed to eliminate a $17.2 million shortfall in funding from the provincial government.

“The B.C. Liberals promised to protect education, but just like all their other broken promises, they aren’t living up to their word,” said Jenny Kwan, New Democrat MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.

“The program cuts that Vancouver School District will be forced to make are going to hurt students in Vancouver, and districts around the province are feeling the same pain. The B.C. Liberals are sacrificing our future prosperity with their neglect of education,” said Kwan.

“The B.C. government is trying to make an example of the Vancouver School Board to silence other districts,” said Chak Au, a Richmond school trustee. “The minister of education is attacking VSB for being incompetent in fiscal management, but with all 60 school districts facing a funding shortage, it cannot be the case that all 60 school boards in the province are lacking in the capacity to manage their money.”

“Vancouver has long been a leader in education,” said Mark Proctor, a retired principal with 41 years of experience. “Programs such as ESL, junior kindergarten, all-day kindergarten and afterschool daycare, were created outside of the school board’s core funding to provide not just equality of access but equality of outcomes. These programs are driven by parents, principals, teachers – those with close association with the children in the schools and saw the need.”

“The special advisor says she was instructed to exclude the funding formula for schools from her report. So there’s no comment on the adequacy of the funding formula. And for the last nine years the B.C. Liberal government has downloaded costs and underfunded our schools,” said former VSB trustee Noel Herron.
Former District Parent Advisory Council chair Schula Leonard added, “Public education is not a business. It is a core institution and value of any democratic society, and requires priority resources and continuity in funding.”
“Education has not been protected as a public good in the province. We need advocates in the system and the VSB and other school trustees in the province have been functioning as advocates for children at the behest of the voters who elected them. Let us not hear their voices silenced,” said former Dean of Education at Simon Fraser University Paul Shaker.

Peter Black, former principal of Queen Alexandra Elementary, echoed Shaker’s call for action, saying “We need the provincial government to fully fund education, to invest in children for tomorrow’s economy and for our society. Today, we are calling on the public to send this message to the provincial government.”

Carole James and New Democrats are committed to preparing the next generation for tomorrow’s knowledge economy with a quality public education system for all.