B.C. Election: Grading political parties on their education promises

Article content

While health care and housing have dominated messaging during this provincial election campaign, education advocates argue what the parties say about schools is just as important for the future of B.C.

If you have children or grandchildren, they will spend most of their formative years inside classrooms, and the next premier will play a major role in how and what they learn.

Article content

“They go to school for a large part of 12 years of their life. It’s important to think about what that space is like,” said Clint Johnston, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.

The B.C. School Trustees Association sent letters to every leader outlining its wish list for education spending, and is disheartened that the topic has been a low priority in campaign announcements.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” said Carolyn Broady, the association’s president, “especially when you look at the fact that we are the second-biggest ministry, after health, in government.”

Melanie Cheng, president of the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council, said she knows parents are busy, but encourages them to take the time to research leaders’ education commitments before casting their vote.

“Review a party’s platform to ensure it’s aligned on all your key issues,” said Cheng, who has three children at Vancouver schools.

Parents tell her their top concerns include before- and after-school care, upgrading old schools and building new ones, meal programs, and maintaining sexual orientation and gender identity resources, known as SOGI 123.

Article content

Postmedia News has spoken with other parents, though, who have different priorities and would like to SOGI and other changes to the education system put in detention.

The parties’ education proposals vary widely, which is perhaps not surprising in this very polarized campaign.

In Maple Ridge earlier this week, NDP Leader David Eby outlined the education portion of his party’s platform. He said a re-elected NDP government would provide a mental-health counsellor in each school and an educational assistant in every kindergarten to Grade 3 classroom for students with “complex needs.” It would also work with school districts to create more before- and after-school child care spaces for kids up to age 12.

The NDP promises new education spending of $170 million over two years, in addition to commitments made when the party was in power. That’s just six per cent, though, of the nearly $3 billion in new spending outlined in its platform.

The document also pledges, but provides few details, to:

• Make it easier for adults working on-call in schools to be certified as teachers, and provide incentive pay for teachers in high-need areas.

Article content

Article content

• Continue to build new spaces for more than 20,000 students in growing communities, such as Richmond, Fernie and Mission.

• Expand services for students with dyslexia and other learning challenges.

The Conservatives haven’t released a platform or revealed how much its promises will cost. The party’s website lists its key priorities, but they don’t mention education.

In March, the party hosted a discussion in Vancouver about B.C.’s “broken education system and what we can do to fix it.” The topics included ending SOGI resources, protecting free speech in schools, removing ideology from classrooms and bringing back standardized tests.

In August, Leader John Rustad called SOGI “a divisive assault on parental rights.”

Article content

Earlier this year, the Tories also vowed that, if elected, they would build more schools in the overcrowded Surrey school district, but in the short-term would eliminate the district’s “trailer portables” and extended school hours by increasing the maximum number of students allowed in kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms. Rustad said student-to-teacher ratios wouldn’t change, although he didn’t explain how he would hire more teachers given the dire shortage of teachers in B.C.

And Rustad said on a podcast in September that he would review school resources that are “designed for more of an indoctrination” than teaching kids important skills.

The Greens’ platform, by comparison, pledged $2.4 billion in education spending over three years, nearly 10 per cent of its overall proposed spending. The party’s plan proposes to:

• Attract more teachers with paid practicums, simplified certification for out-of-province educators, loan forgiveness programs, and staff bursaries and more teacher training in remote areas.

• Increase pay and hours for educational assistants.

Article content

• Boost funding for classroom resources and seismic upgrades, and create pre-approved building designs to fast-track new schools.

• Provide greater inclusivity for students, including those with learning challenges, such as autism and dyslexia, expand SOGI 123, and hire more psychologists, counsellors and social workers.

• Provide a universal school food program.

“We’re seeing some really good things in terms of promises that are hopeful, but we are concerned about some of the platforms,” said Cheng.

While her group is non-partisan, Cheng said members are aligned with most of the policies in the NDP and Green platforms.

The NDP, in particular, has pledged to repair aging schools and build new ones based on projected student growth, Cheng said.

She is pleased to see the NDP and Greens support a universal food program, and would like the Conservatives to also endorse the idea because it’s a key issue for households struggling to make ends meet.

The Tories say they will support schools that “want” to offer child care programs, but Cheng’s group fears the party isn’t putting enough urgency into addressing working parents’ crucial need for more before- and after-school spaces.

Article content

Her group, she added, believes SOGI has combated homophobia and transphobia in schools, and doesn’t support the Conservative proposal to axe it.

“We’re very concerned that the removal of the SOGI curriculum would be a huge setback in inclusive education for the entire province,” Cheng said.

Not everyone agrees.

Jessica, a Vancouver Island mother who requested her last name not be used to protect her son’s identity, said she home-schools her 15-year-old because he is extremely uncomfortable with SOGI and has been bullied for having different views.

“I think (SOGI) is promoting an agenda that shouldn’t be promoted in school,” she said. “They say it is about inclusion, but to make my son feel excluded is not an inclusive model.”

Jessica has historically voted NDP, but will back the Conservatives this time: “A lot of parents are being blindsided by what is going on in schools.”

Dustin, a Nanaimo father, said before he votes he will research which party commits to hiring more support staff for schools.

His 10-year-old daughter was stabbed with scissors twice, suffering minor cuts on her head and arm, by another student with special needs who requires more support in the school.

Article content

“It’s not this other girl’s fault. It’s not (my daughter’s) fault. It really comes down to not having enough staff, to always have someone watching her,” said Dustin, whose last name won’t be published to keep his daughter anonymous.

He and his wife met with the principal, and the school now has a safety plan to protect his Grade 5 daughter, but he added: “There’s so many learning needs and disabilities nowadays, there needs to be more EAs (educational assistants).”

Jessica and Dustin are part of a panel of voters assembled by Postmedia and the Leger marketing company to provide feedback on the campaign.

A small group of panelists who responded to an education-focused survey were mostly split down the middle when it came to how their families were affected by high-profile issues such as SOGI, overcrowding in schools and too many portables.

One frustrated mother, Paula, said schools shouldn’t accept any more students once they’re full, and that people moving to growing neighbourhoods should be warned that a local school is full before they decide to rent or buy there.

Article content

“In Surrey, especially, there are too many portables and too many students. Surrey is on staggered school hours,” said Paula, who is leaning Conservative.

Rustad’s proposal to eliminate portables and longer school hours by putting more students in each classroom is unrealistic, argued the union representing teachers.

“That just belies a real lack of understanding,” Johnston said, “of the situation students and our members are already in schools with some very crowded classrooms.”

The BCTF has made a list of 11 campaign priorities and tracks on its website what the parties have said so far about each one.

The union supports, for example, NDP promises for a mental-health counsellor in every school and hiring more educational assistants, and the Greens’ pledge for more child care on school sites, Johnston said.

The BCTF is concerned, though, about “politicizing” school textbooks because of Rustad’s vow to assess which ones are appropriate to use in schools, and his determination to stop SOGI, which Johnston said would be a “hugely backwards” step for some students.

Article content

All parties have suggested ways to address B.C.’s significant teacher shortage, but Johnston argued none has proposed “concrete solutions.” While it’s important to have recruitment incentives in both rural and urban areas, he said working conditions in schools must be improved to retain the teachers that are already here.

Recruitment and retention of staff is one of three priority areas the organization representing school district trustees had hoped would be addressed this campaign. The other two are “inclusive” policies for a variety of students, including vulnerable youth and Indigenous children, and adequate funding to repair aging schools and to build new ones in high growth areas.

Article content

“Our goal has been to try to elevate education to be one of the major topics of the election cycle. We have been disappointed,” said Broady, the association president and chairwoman of West Vancouver Schools.

While stressing the trustee association is non-partisan, she said the Conservatives’ pledge to expand mental-health resources across the province will benefit students. She would like, though, to see the party commit to a specific amount of provincial funding for its promises, such as eliminating portables, so that the cost is never downloaded to cash-strapped school districts.

Broady applauded the NDP’s pledge to hire more counsellors and educational assistants, but said filling those positions — along with too many teaching openings — must come with major spending on more post-secondary spaces.

The Green platform, she said, “hits a lot of the very important issues … but all this needs to be tied to funding.”

In the final week of the campaign, Broady encouraged voters to do some homework: research the campaign commitments made by each party.

“Go to your local all-candidates meetings,” she said, “and ask what they are doing to support students and staff.”

Article content

lculbert@postmedia.com

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

Article content