Election has ignored education, key to solving most societal problems

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As an educator, I find it utterly disturbing to see the way our politicians, from the candidates for premier to the current minister of education, have discussed, or rather have not discussed, education during this election cycle. It borders on either wilful neglect or malevolence.

The Conservative education platform is insultingly uninformed and shows a complete lack of understanding of the fundamentals of education and the state of education in B.C.

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I understand that housing, affordability, health care and public safety are the issues de jour in this election, but after 15 years of the B.C. Liberals and now eight years of the B.C. NDP, the signs of neglect of our education system are starting to fester. They are a malignant mass that should not be ignored or pushed off to the periphery.

The bigger the district, the more acute the problems are felt. Few districts are operating in the green, mainly because funding models have not changed nor kept up with inflation and costs. B.C. is still near the bottom in Canada for per student funding.

The last time a new secondary school was built in Vancouver was 1972. There have been no new schools on the east side. David Thompson and Killarney operate near capacity. Windermere and Gladstone are old buildings that desperately need modernization and replacement, especially as population has shifted.

Yet, the school board, no doubt under pressure from the Ministry of Education to cut costs, has been more interested in cutting programs like the MACC, which serves gifted students, or land dispersals like the subdivision of Bruce Elementary.

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Yet Vancouver is still not facing the kind of battle that Surrey is facing.

With 80,000 students enrolled and projections putting it having over 100,000 in the next decade, the Surrey school district’s budget shortfall is beyond concerning. In the spring, the school board asked for almost $5 billion to pay for 20 new schools, 19 additions, two school replacements, and one seismic upgrade. The district has a long list of school expansions planned, including an 800-seat addition to Fleetwood secondary, which has a school population around 1600.

It is shameful that in the push for the right to govern B.C., the only thing we have heard of education is a $500 million increase which focuses on increasing staffing of counsellors and educational assistants, which are in critical shortage across the province. It is not clear how they expect throwing money at this will fix the problem.

The schooling to be a school counsellor is long and programs are highly selective. Without increasing incentives for training, it is unlikely that the shortage will vanish.

Educational assistants are in short supply due to criminally low wages and the fact that, according to WorkSafeBC data, it is one of the most unsafe jobs in the province. A lack of standardized training for these assistants also makes it hard when people move, as each district requires different courses to be completed. A functional education system is the cornerstone of society. If we are not willing to prioritize education, we might as well kiss the future goodbye.

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We can already see dropping rates of numeracy and literacy in the post-COVID world. Schools, especially at the secondary level, are left with very few options for remediation for students who have fallen behind due to mental health, physical health, or absenteeism.

We should demand considerably more of our political establishment in making education a priority for the next four years. It is not a peripheral issue, but a core element of a functioning society.

Evidence shows that better education leads to better humans and reduces health problems, criminality, unemployment and homelessness. If we are serious about addressing the issues of this province, then we need to be serious about addressing the criminal underfunding and lack of priority for our education system.

Sam Klein-Laufer is a longtime educator in the Lower Mainland.

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