Investing our hopes and dreams in public education
September 15, 2026
by David Chudnovsky
When I first became a public education advocate in the late 1960s, we spent a lot of time talking and thinking about what schools could and should be like. Some of our ideas were progressive and thoughtful and even transformational. And admittedly, some of them were a bit goofy. Still, much of our energy was spent dreaming about making the very best principles of public education real in our schools every day.
Since then, it seems as if we’ve been permanently on the defensive – desperately clinging to structures and processes we had once criticized – because the alternatives being proposed were so much worse. As a result, we don’t often have the time or opportunity to discuss, debate, or engage with each other about the future of public education. We’re usually caught up with immediate issues — whether the excitement and fulfillment of a project, assignment or learning process, or a critical analysis, protest or condemnation of an ongoing weakness or problem. But shouldn’t we be talking about these issues, imagining and planning for a future that meets the educational needs of every child — articulating and sharing our hopes and dreams?
Over the past two years, the Institute for Public Education/BC facilitated a community-based discussion we called “Our Hopes and Dreams for Public Education” to do just that. And more than 1000 British Columbians shared their thoughts, their wisdom – their hopes and dreams – with us.
Many of us are legitimately concerned about conditions faced by students, families and educators in BC’s public schools. And we express our criticisms publicly as we should. The Hopes and Dreams project, though, was unique in that it asked participants to talk about their vision for the education system they want, rather than their criticisms of the system we currently have.
This was difficult for many, especially for parents, Education Assistants, teachers and others worried about the unmet and significant needs of particular children. Initially they found it hard to “hope and dream” rather than critique the current shortcomings. But we at IPE/BC shared our belief that this positive-oriented process is just another way to advocate for public education, for our schools and for our children. In the end our participants overwhelmingly supported this chance to turn legitimate criticisms into inspirational discussion.
The project wasn’t, nor was it meant to be, a randomized survey of British Columbians. Instead, it was a participatory community engagement and consultation process — an in-depth discussion with people connected in some way with our public schools. We heard from parents, students, teachers, Education Assistants, advocates, students and instructors at faculties of education, immigrants and newcomers and many more.
They expressed their hopes and dreams about schools where every child truly belongs; about a thriving education workforce; about schools as trusted, community-centred institutions; about funding every school for every student’s success; about Indigenous rights and de-colonizing the system – and about much more.
We invite you to read the Report, to endorse the Report, to comment and make your views known; to discuss the report with candidates for School Trustee in your community; to contact the Minister of Education and the Premier and let them know what you think.
For us at IPE/BC the results of this project were both inspiring and instructive. We see the report as simply one step in an ongoing process. If our work encourages discussion and debate about the nature of our public schools we will be very pleased. But that discussion and debate is not nearly enough. The suggestions and wisdom of those who engaged with us — who shared their hopes and dreams — should be studied and taken seriously by policy-makers at the school, school district and provincial levels. That should and must lead to change.
Public education is a bedrock of a democratic society — a fundamental mechanism of social solidarity that contributes to equity and to individual and community well-being. Let’s hope and dream together about how to make our public education system the best it can possibly be so that every one of our children can thrive.
David Chudnovsky is a member of the Board of Directors of IPE/BC and the chairperson of the IPE/BC Hopes and Dreams Committee. He taught at the nursery, elementary, secondary and university levels in England, Ontario and BC. He is a former BC MLA, past-president of the BCTF and co-author of the Charter for Public Education.
immediately disclose the highly inappropriate and revealing text messages between the Associate Deputy Minister and the Deputy Chief of the Victoria Police Department. The Minister described the omission as “an inadvertent error.” 
These are just a few examples of teaching the wrong lessons. I also found the government’s own 
In British Columbia, Education Minister Lisa Beare flexed her ministerial muscles shortly after her appointment by 
I frequently hear from newly elected trustees that they’ve been advised by senior management or their provincial organization not to speak to the media or engage with the public on social media. Good grief. What is the point of local government if local elected officials are discouraged from talking to the locals?
Vibrant, effective boards, where debate is encouraged, all voices are heard, and access to trustees is open, are a vital component of a high-functioning public education system. By most measures, Canada’s public schools are remarkably successful, delivering strong outcomes for the public investment they receive. Do school boards contribute to that success? I believe they do, at least in some cases.
We know that not everyone learns the same way. Education professionals are adept at modifying curricula to suit a variety of learning styles and needs – Individual Education Plans (IEPs). But in a classroom with a large number and wide range of students, without an EA, teachers struggle to meet the learning needs of all their students.
interaction with other students and encouraging friendships.
This is not a unique situation. School districts across the province need more funding to adequately staff classrooms. Many districts are struggling with recruitment of qualified EAs due to lack of hours and earning potential. As school districts make more cuts to balance budgets, the crucial work of EAs will become more unsuitable – EAs will suffer more burn out and leave the profession, and kid will have less support.
Surrey’s serious overcrowding issues span the district and all grade levels. It’s alarming that, in a number of cases, enrolment in their neighbourhood school has been cut off to neighbourhood children and youth. When the enrollment cut off hit the news two years ago, the response of the then Minister was to let parents/caregivers know that they would be able to find a school somewhere else in the district in which to enrol their children.
We are not opposed to innovation- far from it! There have been countless educational decisions and innovations based on new understandings about how young people learn, how to support different learning styles and needs, and what values schools should reflect, to name just a few important drivers. Without the continual re-examination of teaching and learning, public schools would have been stuck in a time warp. However, we also have to think about the context for changes- while the expectations on schools have increased, the funding and support has declined. This is simply not sustainable, regardless of how much and how often the delivery model is changed.
reported in studies vary and include isolation, social media and excessive time spent online, financial precarity and inequality, inadequate sleep levels, anxiety about climate change and other prevailing planetary issues, breakdown of community, and lack of supportive relationships. 
need to learn how to cope in the “real world”, the speaker is inevitably projecting their biases and their vision of the real world, as if that vision was a universal truth, unalterable and the only choice. We have to step back and ask ourselves if today’s manifestation of a “real world” is something we want young people to replicate. Surely, we who have left monumental social issues, raging inequality, and the planet’s very survival to the real world to the next generations to solve should not be the one to declare what the real world for the next generation should be.
Within weeks, he stopped entering the classroom. They called us daily, threatening to call 911 if we didn’t come quickly enough.
stretched thin. Children without formal diagnoses fall through the cracks. Parents fight for years to get their children diagnosed and then are told there are no resources to support them. Families feel like they are trapped in a cycle of bait and switch while our children are circling the drain.
School exclusion is a pipeline. It begins the moment a child is made to feel that their presence is conditional—that they are too much. And it compounds: in anxiety, in early police contact, in fractured families, in long-term reliance on disability supports.
Parents/caregivers, support staff, teachers, trustees, advocacy organizations, and, in a number of cases, young people themselves are speaking out. They know well the impact of underfunding on student learning and well-being, and on the school community as a whole. They’ve been imploring the government to address the shortfalls, reverse the losses, and make public education a high priority. Their perspectives should be welcomed and respected.
given or be subject to dismissal. It’s the provincial government dictates the size of the pie, regardless of whether it’s adequate, and boards are simply left to slice it up. We can safely conclude that no district would even consider cutbacks if the funding matched the costs.
same services as the year before. It’s very likely that the dollars allocated to most, if not all government services, are the “highest ever.” But, in terms of per pupil spending in education, BC does not have a record to crow about. According to Stats Can updated figures for the year 2022 (latest available) BC ranked fourth from the bottom of the provinces and territories in dollars per pupil dedicated to public education. 
Music education allows students to access and express emotions that they may not otherwise have words or actions for. It helps them to manage their emotions. It also helps students to feel and to understand others’ emotions. When students play in an ensemble, they learn to listen – not simply hear – and they learn to wait for their turn. They learn to support others, and to create and enjoy the harmony that is realized in teamwork. These are life skills that make such students a better friend, partner, co-worker, and citizen. Music education has been shown to teach students to navigate social interactions and resolve conflicts in a positive way, to be more self-aware, and to be more empathetic. They read social cues and thrive.
They study spirituals, protest songs and ballads that have been passed down through generations. Diverse styles such as jazz, classical, country, soul, singing, reggae, opera, folk, pop, rock, hip-hop, rhythm & blues, EDM (electronic dance music) are all part of a proper music education curriculum. These experiences show students who we are, where we have been, and who we can become. Music is a universal language; it transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries and connects us.
cards for – over 350 students, three times each year. I conducted five choirs, three bands and taught general Music K-grade seven. That meant three different staff meetings, innumerable parent-teacher meetings, eight festival entries and countless school concerts. My assigned ‘classrooms’ were school gyms, libraries and when lucky, portables. One school year, my meagre budget meant using fishing line to replace ukulele strings; a durable but not melodious remedy. Lunch ‘breaks’ were usually spent driving to the next school. Programs can devolve from quality to quantity; thirty minutes of music per week does not equate quality music education. Public school music education needs to be reconsidered as essential for brains, hearts, and our future, rather than a luxury or bonus that only students in private schools can access (look at a brochure for any private school and you will always see classes for stringed instruments and arts).
The Ministry of Education and Child Care’s policy manual for the provision of inclusive education services outlines a “continuous and flexible” process for identifying students with disabilities and diverse needs and then providing the necessary supports.
least the past 17 years. In 2023-24, for example, provincial government funding only covered 72.3% of what BC school districts spent to provide inclusive education services. In dollar terms, this was a $340 million dollar funding shortfall that districts were forced to cover with their core operational funding. Besides creating pressure for districts to redirect funding from other operational areas, the lack of funding forces districts to ration inclusive education staff and services. Research with teachers has found that this can be seen as having to “triage the system,” including trying to fit in supports through creative scheduling, shifting support intended for one student to multiple students, and cobbling multiple small supports together.
Increased funding alone will not “fix” inclusive education. However, it is the necessary condition for moving BC along the path of more inclusive school communities.
This isn’t to say that excessive cell phone use or social media isn’t negatively impacting youth; rather, it suggests that banning phones in schools isn’t the solution politicians often claim it to be.
shortchanging them by opting for simplistic (and often hard-to-enforce) bans instead of more comprehensive, nuanced approaches? Wouldn’t it be better to help them develop healthy tech habits and the ability to set boundaries for themselves, enabling them to use technology constructively?
phone use. Schools and the education system are well-positioned to play a central role in this, but it will take much more than the “headline-grabbing gimmicks” of cellphone bans.