Is there enough money flowing to public education?
ItB次元官网网址檚 fairly clear the overwhelming majority of people within the system think not.
ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the pillars of the stance people take when they talk about improving educational outcomes for our children. Ian Johnson, president of the Sooke TeachersB次元官网网址� Association, is one of them.
B次元官网网址淲hen you look at the data thatB次元官网网址檚 collected, I think weB次元官网网址檙e doing as well as anybody,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 generally agreed by everybody, I think, that under the conditions we are forced to teach in right now, we do a very good job. Could it be better? Absolutely. We could do better than what weB次元官网网址檙e doing right now, but thatB次元官网网址檚 influenced by factors that are outside our control.B次元官网网址�
The most important of those, he adds, is the funding of public education provincewide.
Government estimates show that the province subsidized public education to the tune of $8,654 per pupil in 2013-14. ThatB次元官网网址檚 well below AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 figure of $10,111 or the $11,266 Ontario provides.
Those discrepancies, Johnson says, illustrate the shortage of resources B.C. teachers have to deal with increasing demands, such as a higher number of students with special needs B次元官网网址� those requiring personalized learning plans and additional supports B次元官网网址� integrated within every classroom.
The long and short of it is the lack of funding is taking its toll on teachers, he says.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 gotten to the point where I donB次元官网网址檛 know that we can actually cope much longer with what weB次元官网网址檙e dealing with. It is, on many levels, a very grim circumstance. I deal with teachers all the time who are at their emotional wits end. TheyB次元官网网址檙e done. They canB次元官网网址檛 cope. The stress is extraordinary. It would be like giving a surgeon an operating room and telling him he doesnB次元官网网址檛 have a scalpel. HeB次元官网网址檚 going to say, B次元官网网址榃ait a minute, you havenB次元官网网址檛 given me the tools to do the job,B次元官网网址� and youB次元官网网址檙e going to say, B次元官网网址榡ust go in there and do the best you can.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
He says thatB次元官网网址檚 why parents are seeing an increase in substitute instructors teaching their children more regularly. When teachers come to him saying theyB次元官网网址檙e exhausted and are having difficulty coping, thereB次元官网网址檚 one prevailing message he has for them.
B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 teach if you canB次元官网网址檛 take care of yourself,B次元官网网址� he tells them. B次元官网网址淪ave yourself first, and then go back in there, and weB次元官网网址檒l attempt to come to grips with whatever the circumstances are. I think thatB次元官网网址檚 true for anybody, in any job, quite frankly.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 not that Johnson blames the school district for the situation. SD62 only has control over where the B次元官网网址渘ot enoughB次元官网网址� is allocated, he says.
District superintendent Jim Cambridge agrees with that assessment.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a matter of balancing and rebalancing the priority that we place on things,B次元官网网址� he says, adding that if the district puts the priority too heavily in one area one year, something else suffers.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not like thereB次元官网网址檚 extra money. WeB次元官网网址檙e spending every dollar we get. So if weB次元官网网址檙e not spending it in the right way, we can talk about that and IB次元官网网址檒l take responsibility. But I canB次元官网网址檛 make any more money so I canB次元官网网址檛 add an education assistant without taking that amount from somewhere else, for example.B次元官网网址�
Just this month, the district is putting forward the budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Despite massive cuts being felt in districts all over the province, SD62 has found $260,000 to put back into the system. It wonB次元官网网址檛 make up for the $4.1 million in cuts made over the previous two years, but at least itB次元官网网址檚 going back into the pie rather than just sitting in the bank.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 just not enough there,B次元官网网址� Johnson sighs, resigned to this fact. One can hear the dejected and disheartened tone in his voice. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 heartbreaking, and itB次元官网网址檚 taking its toll. ItB次元官网网址檚 bad enough when you donB次元官网网址檛 feel appreciated by your employer.B次元官网网址�
He clarifies that he isnB次元官网网址檛 pointing a finger at the district B次元官网网址� he means the Ministry of Education, B次元官网网址�(When youB次元官网网址檙e) not given the resources to do your job effectively, over time, itB次元官网网址檚 just B次元官网网址次元官网网址� he trails off.
Wendy Hobbs, chair of the SD62 board of trustees, is also resigned to the fact they wonB次元官网网址檛 have any more money to shift around anytime in the foreseeable future.
B次元官网网址淢aking the pie bigger has been advocated for years. ItB次元官网网址檚 not going to work,B次元官网网址� she admits. She adds that if they at least knew what size the pie was going to be, it would be helpful.
B次元官网网址�(The province needs to) quit making us do year-to-year budgets,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淲e have been fighting for that for years. If we knew what we were going to get for the next three years, we could work with all of the groups to say, B次元官网网址榟ereB次元官网网址檚 what weB次元官网网址檝e got, letB次元官网网址檚 work towards something.B次元官网网址� But this year-to-year budgeting and the unforeseen cuts doesnB次元官网网址檛 help us with our day-to-day working of the district.
B次元官网网址淚f you take out a mortgage on your house, you know what youB次元官网网址檙e paying from year to year for the length of the term. If we knew that B次元官网网址次元官网网址�
Her words hang in the air as though the answer is obvious, which it is when considering that prioritizing and re-prioritizing is what they do. Doing that over multiple years would make the process a whole lot smoother, she says, and stakeholders would be much more accepting of budgets if they could see when the pendulum was going to swing in their direction.
Not everyone sees the lack of resources as the main issue, however.
B次元官网网址淭o me itB次元官网网址檚 not about money,B次元官网网址� says Ray Miller, principal of Belmont secondary.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about intelligently designing systems so that they integrate together and are effective and efficient. You can complain all you want about the money, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean youB次元官网网址檙e going to get any more. So you might as well do the best you can with what you have. I think we should always, as an organization, look for ways of improving student learning. That is our one and only guiding principle.
B次元官网网址淲e canB次元官网网址檛 get caught up in traditions and patterns of the past. Especially today. Especially in this century.B次元官网网址�
Find out how he and other stakeholders feel the district can do that in the final part of this series, coming in FridayB次元官网网址檚 Gazette.
