Skip to content

Education figures can be deceiving

Teachers across B.C. have seen a reduction in services to students

Re: Education funding hasn’t been cut, Letters (Sept. 12)

Ms. Bonny’s argument that education funding has not been cut shows how deceiving figures can be.  Any examination of funding needs to consider:

• funding that does not keep pace with inflation represents a reduction in actual dollars

• certain expenses are fixed: a reduction in enrolment does not automatically mean a reduction in expenditures as heating, maintenance and clerical staffing costs often remain the same

• spending money on aging infrastructure for seismic upgrades, for example, does not translate into services for students

• additional costs such as the carbon tax

• the expense of operating the all-day kindergarten program for 40,000 students introduced in 2010

Regardless of the widely-quoted numbers put forth by the BC Liberals, what really matters in what is happening in our schools. For the past decade, teachers across B.C. have seen a reduction in services to students – especially those who need psycho-educational testing, learning  assistance and special education programs.

Our children are our future.  They deserve a well-funded public education system.

Lynne Marvell,

Fraser-Cascade Teachers’ Association president