On June 25th, IPE/BC sent a letter of concern to Premier Eby. Our Board of Directors is dismayed to see BC falling behind other provinces in its financial support for public education. In fact, when it comes to education spending as a percentage of Gross Provincial Product, BC now sits as the ninth lowest of the ten provinces. Further, the percentage of the GPP spent on education in BC has fallen from 2.7% in 2000 to 1.6% in 2024, while many pressing needs continue to go unmet in our public schools.
We are now sharing the letter publicly in the hope that others will express their concern to the Premier and Minister of Education as well. We believe that public education is key to a healthy society and robust democracy, and, as such, our public schools must be well-supported. With the steady decline in funding as a percentage of GPP, this is currently not the case. Please join us in advocating for the education funding levels our students, parents/caregivers, communities, education staff, and public schools need.
Subsequent correspondence
On August 7th we received a reply from the Deputy-Minister, Ministry of Education and Child Care. However, we felt strongly that this response did not address the significant concerns that we raised with regard to the insufficient funding for public schools or the fact that the percentage of the Gross Provincial Product spent on education in BC has been in decline. Therefore, we felt compelled to send a follow-up letter to the Premier and Minister of Education and Childcare, urging once again that the government address the critical need for an increase in education funding.
