Education

BC Budget 2021: Stay-the-course budget misses the mark on key areas of urgency outside health

Apr 20, 2021
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The BC government tabled a surprisingly stay-the-course budget today, making some improvements on the margins but missing the opportunity to shift BC towards a more inclusive and sustainable economy. While it appropriately includes large sums of time-limited spending relating to the pandemic (and indeed BC has led other provinces on pandemic spending), it is scarce… View Article

Reality Check: Progress on child care in BC, 2012-2020

Oct 9, 2020
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In the early days of the current BC election campaign child care took centre stage when NDP leader John Horgan recommitted his party to fully implement the $10aDay Plan1 if elected on October 24. Public discussion and commentary followed in the media and from other parties. Questions were raised about the progress achieved on child care… View Article

Mind the gap: Losses in international student tuition shouldn’t lead to teacher layoffs

Jul 23, 2020
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The COVID-19 pandemic has upended public education around the world, touching every facet of school life. In British Columbia, while some students cautiously returned to classrooms in June, many international students instead returned to their home countries. As school districts across the province anxiously watch international tuition revenues shrink, many are contemplating or even implementing… View Article

Digital equity and community solidarity during and after COVID-19

Apr 21, 2020
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As many have noted, COVID-19 is an efficient illuminator of our society’s strengths and weaknesses; its progress accelerates in spaces of inequality and injustice. There is a race among public health agencies at all levels to provide timely, accurate information about COVID-19 that is essential to support physical distancing policies and to maintain quarantine and… View Article

The new school year begins with more affordable child care and better education funding for all ages — but challenges remain in the education sector

Sep 10, 2018
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It’s back-to-school season and this September, BC students of all ages are returning to schools facing a very different funding environment. That’s because in its first year in power, BC’s new provincial government made a major shift in direction in education policy, significantly increasing education investments for students of all ages. The largest and perhaps… View Article

How BC is short-changing schools and how we can fix it

Aug 16, 2018
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Students using 30-year-old textbooks, teachers buying basic supplies, schools permanently on edge of closing—this is the all too common face of public education in British Columbia in 2018. This is despite the past school year seeing the first meaningful injection of funds into BC schools in over a decade. The new money is paying for… View Article

Let’s strengthen public education in BC: Budget 2018

Nov 8, 2017
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The BC government’s September budget update included significant new funding for K-12 education as expected in light of last year’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling. This was vital after years of chronic underfunding by the previous government. The new funding to restore class size and composition provisions illegally stripped from teachers’ contracts means that thousands… View Article

Seven immediate steps to reduce poverty while the government consults on a comprehensive poverty reduction plan

Nov 1, 2017
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Earlier this week, the BC government appointed an Advisory Forum on Poverty Reduction to provide expertise and assistance to the Minster of Social Development and Poverty Reduction in the development of a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy for BC. The 27 people named to the Forum represent communities across the province and bring diverse skills, perspectives… View Article