Teacher delegates from every community in B.C. have voted overwhelmingly against the government’s proposed changes put forward regarding the special education funding in the province.
“When it comes to a choice between services for children with special needs or statistical efficiency for senior managers, teachers choose students,” said BCTF President Glen Hansman.
At the 2019 B.C. Teacher Federation’s Annual General Meeting, 15 teachers from Prince George and Mackenzie were among the 700 teachers to converge in B.C.’s capital over the weekend.
“The one thing these designations do is guarantee a minimum amount of support,” President of the Prince George chapter, Joanne Hapke, told MyPGNow prior to the meeting in Victoria. “They want to look at averages instead of individual students. We don’t see this as being as supportive of our students. There’s a concern that if the government doesn’t fund each student and allow school districts to make those decisions themselves, that money won’t be spent on supporting students.”
The resolution passed at the AGM is below.
That the BCTF call upon cabinet and the provincial government as a whole to:
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- terminate consideration of the proposed model for special education funding.
- reform the provincial funding formula for operating grants to one based on the identified needs of school districts, equitable distribution of resources, as well as the full mandate of the public education system.
- align special education funding with special education needs by closing the current gap between what school districts receive in special education funding and the much greater amount spent.
- dedicate funding for early identification and designations of students with special needs and for in-service for teachers.
- move ahead with significant enhancements to operational funding for K–12 beyond the funding increases associated with enrolment growth.
