The real answer to

crisis in education

_—.

REVIEWING the origin and de-
ed oPment of the crisis in
econ _for readers of the
tabli I¢ Tribune last week, I es-
l ished these facts:
V There are wide variations
In educational standards,
and glaring inequalities in
the tax load as carried by
the school districts and
€ven by the different vil-
lages and municipalities of
“the same school districts.
he present system of basic
Srants and distribution of
One-third of sales tax rev-
€nues is inequitable and
Unsatisfactory.
British Columbia’s outmod-
€d taxation system and. un-
Just assessment methods
need drastic amendment
mee change.

i ce facts add up to crisis.
Hom, Oe cipalitiés need relief.
1953 ees how receiving their
y saee Notices are - dismayed
Schoo] poene mill rates. Yet
hing ‘3 acilities are lagging be-
Tolme € needs of a school en-

nt ae increases year by
take, €ss measures are
more a the crisis will become

x

Which Ne the background against
ments € Social Credit govern-
. "Rolst Proposals, the so-called
amined formula,” must be ex-
certain j Although they contain
they fall peomtant new features,
' far short of what is re-
tices an © eradicate past injus-
ation f Provide a sound found-
. a the future,
Proposal oot shortcoming is the
Ment gra to base future govern-
ing bua va On the 1952 operat-
es the various school
\ = : Nn effect, this proposal
equaliti : Tpetuate existing in-
stricts ..y2t, Would favor those
"ied oh in the years up
Oney pep Ing 1952 spent more
tricts" t Pupil than other dis-
Would also favor those

Cipaliti
assistance least in need of

What
t
Progressite™ does the Labor-

arty propose? Is it

possible to evolve a system that
will remove existing tax inequali-
ties and establish a basic stand-
ard of education? The Labor-
Progressive believes it is.

The starting point is recogni-
tion of the need for an entirely
new system and a new formula
for -allocation of government
grants. Only then can inequali-
ties be removed and educational
standards raised to a uniform
minimum level.

This, in the opinion of the
Labor-Progressive party, is what
must be done:

+ The provincial government
should guarantee a provincial
basic standard of education for
all children, regardless of where
they live.

+ The minimum educational
program should be defined to
include all essential school ser-
vices and facilities. The plan
for financing the program should
cover all essential elements of

‘school costs, including trans-

portation and capital outlay,
and not just current expenses.

+ This basic educational pro-
gram should be considered as a
minimum only, beyond which
any local school district may go
at its own discretion.

+ Allotment of provincial gov-
ernment grants to local school
administrations for realization
of the provincial basic standard
should be determined by: use of
a formula based upon objective
data which measures the two
key factors of relative need
(“weighted pupil” average) and
financial ability (local ‘assess-
ments).

+ The educational system
should be financed jointly by the
province and local school sys-
tems in accordance with an
equitable plan which assures that
the program will be adequately
supported throughout the prov-
ince. This requires establish-
ment of an equitable fiscal part-
nership between the province as
a whole and the individual school
svstems, regardless of taxpaying
abilities.

+ Measures of educational

-By NIGEL MORGAN

need used in arriving at the cost
of the program should be simple,
equitable and objective. They
should automatically take into
account all cost elements es-
sential to provision of a like pro-
gram in all communities, regard-
less of population density, ter-
rain, varying costs of living and
construction and similar factors.

+ For satisfactory operation
of the educational program ade-
quate and equitable measures of
local financial ability must be de-
veloped and used. These should
reflect as clearly as possible the
potential ability of local school
systems to raise funds for school
support.

+ The basis of measuring local
financial ability should be uni-
form and should apply to all
local school systems in the prov-
ince. . j

+ The contribution required
of local school systems toward
the cost of the educational pro-
gram should be based on an
equalized and equitable assess-
ment of property in the several
local school systems throughout
the province.

+ The province’s contribution
should be large enough to avoid
placing an unduly heavy tax on
local school systems.

+ Provincial appropriations
for support of the program
should be provided in accord-
ance with a plan which’ assures
that additional funds will be
available as needed to meet in-
creased attendance of pupils and
other changes that automatically
result in increased costs. ~

.+ All provincial funds should
be distributed on a strictly ob-
jective basis that can be com-
puted as readily by the local
school system as by the prov-

incial department of education. -

€

There are two basic compon-
ents necessary for determining
the cost of the educational pro-
gram: The number of units of
service and the amount required
in dollars to support the pro-
gram in each unit. The only
satisfactory method of determin-

ing the first requirement is the
“weighted-pupil” method, orig-
inally conceived by the famous
educator, Paul Mort, which has
proven its worth and accuracy in
a quarter-century of practical
use in U.S. state-aid laws.

The “weighted-pupil unit” was
developed by starting with the
number of pupils in attendance
in the grades commonly served
by schools — Grade 1 through
12 — and introducing variations
to account for phenomena that
make the cost of providing a
given level of expenditure vary
for a given number of pupils.
Examples of -such phenomena
are differences in elementary
and high schoo] per pupil costs;
added costs of transportation
and small classes or both in
sparsely settled areas, and varia-
tions in the cost of living.

In short, this measure has been
developed in order to take. into
account those factors which
cause the cost per pupil of a
given educational program to
vary from community to com-
munity. When all the corrections
are made, a single figure can be
obtained which will represent so
many equal “cost-units,” each of
them equivalent to the cost of
one pupil for a given program
in a village or city elementary
school having more than so many
pupils.

A grant of a given sum per
“weighted pupil” is a much fair-
er grant than the same sum per
pupil in average attendance,
since it treats two schools of the
same size in exactly the same
way no matter what their prac-
tice is in employing teachers,
and in addition gives more
money to small schools or high
schools in which instruction
costs are high. Even a cursory
examination of the inequalities
of the present system of “basic
grants” proves the urgent ne-
cessitv for such a basis for com-
putation.

e

As an immediate step in the
struggle for a fairer svstem of
meeting educational costs the

Labor-Progressive party is pro-
posing:

+ Establishment of a basic
standard of education for all
schools in the province regard-
less of type or location; the prov-
incial government to finance
four-fifths of the aggregate cost,
the remaining one-fifth to be
borne by the local responsibil-
ity, plus the cost of providing
anything above the) provincial
standard that may be approved
by the local school administra-
tion. Grants to be made direct-
ly to the local school board for
administration; local responsibil-
ity and authority to be encour-
aged; the provincial government
to guarantee all new debentures
for capital construction to reduce
interest charges, paying half the
carrying charges on principal and
interest.

+ Allotment of provincial
grants to local school districts
to be determined by the use of
a new formula, based upon the
objective data which measures
relative need (“weighted-pupil”
system) and financial ability
(ocal assessments). :

+ Legislation to make for
equalization of assessment
through provision of a uniform
provincial standard; extension of
the definition of “improvements”
to include all equipment and
machinery, etc. (other than resi-
dential); and provision of a clas-
sified, graduated system of ex-
emptions based on earning cap-
acity to give tax relief to‘homes,
farms and small businesses from
present unjust tax leads.

This is the way to bring about
the equalization of educational
opportunities for children
through the province, to estab-
lish a system of taxation and ad-
ministration which will assure
that the responsibility for and
the burden of support will be
equitably distributed among all
types and classes of taxing

units; and to develop a method

of work which will encourage
local initiative and responsibil-
ity.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 15, 1953 — PAGE 9