Show your support for public education at the polls

Show your support for public education at the polls

At IPE/BC we believe that a strong and accessible public school system is an essential means of building and reinforcing our democratic institutions and nurturing a healthy and prosperous society. We are committed to ensuring public schools are welcoming and inclusive for all children, regardless of their learning needs. We see the upcoming election as an opportunity to advance the needs of our public schools and their students.

We’ve prepared a set of key questions to help voters determine where candidates stand on public education issues. We’ll be asking party leaders and candidates around the province to send us their responses and sharing them with you.

We encourage you to:

-find out where the candidates in your riding stand on public education issues.

-ask questions about public education at all candidates meetings in your riding.

-share our questions widely and invite others to use them as well.

Our Questions for Candidates

1.Funding: B.C. has fallen behind the rest of Canada in how it funds its public schools. The only province that spends less of its GDP on education is Newfoundland and Labrador. B.C. ’s relative contribution to public school budgets has fallen significantly over the period from year 2000 to the present, from the perspective of what the province can afford.

Note: For the 2023/24 school financial year, B.C. reports spending grants of $6,754 million across the province’s 60 school districts. If B.C. were to spend at the “% of PDP” rate found for the year 2000, this budgetary allocation would increase by $3.8 billion to $10.552 billion.

What will you do to increase funding to B.C.’s public schools, to ensure students receive the opportunities and supports their counterparts in other provinces are able to access?

2.Staffing: B.C. schools are struggling with an urgent shortage of qualified teachers and special education support workers. This is shortchanging students and putting increased stress on school employees, making it difficult to retain them.

What will you do to recruit and retain teachers and education support workers?

3.Facilities: The Ministry of Education is forecasting significant enrolment growth in B.C.’s public schools, yet many districts already have overcrowded schools and not enough space for all in-catchment students. Hundreds of B.C. schools are still at high risk of significant structural damage in the event of an earthquake.

How would you ensure B.C.’s students have access to safe, neighbourhood schools, in a timely way?

4.Reconciliation: Historically and statistically, Indigenous students have had poorer outcomes in school due to Canada’s history of colonialism, discrimination and in particular, residential schools.

What will you do to ensure Indigenous students receive educational opportunities and supports to enable their success in B.C.’s public schools?

5.Inclusion and safety: Ensuring that schools are inclusive and safe environments is crucial for the well-being and success of all students. Programs that support students’ understanding of sexual orientation, gender identity, and anti-discrimination are essential in fostering a respectful and welcoming school culture.

How will you ensure schools are safe, inclusive and welcoming for all students? How will you support and protect programs that educate and support students regarding sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), and other anti-discriminatory programs and practices?

To print a document with these questions, click here.

Responses

We’ve sent our questions to all candidates and party leaders on September 25th. Here are the responses from individual candidates by riding and responses from parties to date. Please check back regularly as we’ll continue to post the replies we receive.