Major changes in BC Education System

Following BC elections in May 2001, the Liberal government initiated a review of the public education system. This process resulted in an ongoing review of the various system components, such as funding, teaching staff, evaluation of student perfor- mance, school board accountability, etc. To date, this process has resulted, for example, in the imposition of a new collective agreement for teachers and Bill #34 to amend the Education Act. By the time you read this article, the bill will likely have passed in the BC Legislature.

In light of these events, it appears timely to provide a preliminary update on the key changes that have taken place and those that are planned for the future; particularly changes that will im- pact on the teaching and services provided for students of the CSF francophone schools. Following is a summary of the changes, along with a few comments (in italics).

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

Teacher/Student Ratios

The new collective agreement, imposed on teachers last winter, stipulates that teacher/student ratios will no longer be determined by the collective agreement, but by the Education Act. As a result, new ratios will be in effect as of the coming school year. Henceforth, the maximum number of students in grades 4 to 12 classrooms will be abolished and replaced by a maximum average number. This average will be calculated using the number of students enrolled in these grades divided by the number of classrooms. For example, if a school district has 300 students enrolled in grades 4 through 12 and there are 12 classrooms, the average is 25 students per classroom. For grades 4 through 12, this average cannot exceed 30. This means that, if one classroom has 35 students, another can have only 25 in order to maintain the average at a maximum of 30 students per classroom. For the lower grades, the average for Kindergarten is 22, with an average of 24 for grades 1 through 3. However, the number of students in these grades cannot exceed 22 for Kindergarten and 24 per classroom for grades 1 through 3.

These figures are maximums. This means that school boards wishing to do so could maintain averages below the stipulated limits. For this reason, parents should be vigilant and ensure that the board invest its resources wisely. The francophone school board (CSF) has decided to establish its own ratios at 20 for Kindergarten through Grade 3, and 25 for grades 4 through 12. The CSF also considers the individual circumstances of each school (i.e., combined classrooms of three or more grades).

BILL # 34

The changes proposed to the Education Act in Bill #34 affect numerous aspects of the education system.

Parental Involvement

This bill calls for the establishment of planning councils in each school in the province. These councils, to include 3 pa- rents, the school administrator, and one teacher representative, will be responsible for evaluating student performance and identifying the goals, objectives, and strategies needed to

enhance that performance. The school boards will also be required to consult these councils on issues involving resource allocation, accountability contract content, and educational programs and services provided by the school.

This amendment validates our efforts to date in the franco- phone schools with the institution of a school/community partnership process. This validation will enable us to extend implementation of this process to all schools, since the authorities concerned (school board, school administra- tions) will be required to promote implementation once this bill is passed.

District Parent Advisory Councils (DPAC) will also be recognized. These already exist, but to date the Education Act has not regulated their establishment. At the request of a school parents’ association, the school board must convene a DPAC. The purpose of the Council is to advise the school board regarding educational issues.

Once again, this validates the actions that we have already taken in our educational system. You will recall the adop- tion of the new CSF decision-making and consultation struc- ture including DPAC. This validation will enable us to establish these types of council province-wide. At present, only the Greater Vancouver region has an operating council. In other areas, covering a much larger territory, these ty- pes of council have not yet been established, due to a lack of available funding. Nevertheless, the CSF plans to reserve funding for this purpose in its 2002-2003 budget.

Choice of School Students will be able to choose to enrol in any school in the district or province. The districts will be required to define user areas for each school, with priority given to students living in that area.

At first glance, it appears that this amendment would not have any significant impact on the francophone education system, for two reasons: firstly, there is only one franco- phone school per region in the province, except in Greater Vancouver, and priority is given to students living in the user area; and, secondly, the right to enrol in a franco- phone school is granted exclusive to parties eligible under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Financial Flexibility

School board funding allocation formulas have been completely overhauled. The targeted funds and maximum allowable administrative expenditures have also been abolished, except with respect to funding reserved for aboriginals.

The new funding allocation formulas appear to better meet the specific needs of the CSF, i.e. one territory covering the entire province, significant dispersion of clientele, and relatively limited number of students. Furthermore, since the expense framework has been relaxed significantly, the CSF will have more leeway to invest its financial resources as it deems most appropriate to best satisfy the needs of the students. (continued on page 18)

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