Institut

C.D. HOWE I n sti tutecommentary
NO. 444

Students in Jeopardy:
An Agenda for
Improving Results in
Band-Operated Schools

Reserve schools are failing their students. On-reserve, only four of 10 young adults
have completed high school. A reform agenda should envision multiple solutions.
It should address national budgeting for reserve schools, emphasize outcomes over inputs,
affirm band responsibilities, regionalize INAC’s professional capacity,and emphasize incremental over encompassing reforms.

Barry Anderson and John Richards

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Commentary No. 444
January 2016
Education Policy

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John Richards
is Professor, School of
Public Policy, Simon
Fraser University and
Fellow-in-Residence,
C.D. Howe Institute.

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potential conflicts of interest of which they are aware.

C

Barry Anderson
is a former senior official
with the BC Education
Ministry. He was responsible
for many of the Aboriginal
education reforms in BC
provincial schools. He has
been a consultant to theFirst Nations Education
Steering Committee.

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Daniel Schwanen
Vice President, Research

The Study In Brief
The performance of band-operated, on-reserve schools, while much better than the residential schools
they replaced, remains very weak in comparison with provincial schools. Among young adults aged 20-24,
nine of 10 non-Aboriginals have at least high school, as do eight of 10 Métis and seven of 10 First Nation
living off-reserve. In stark contrast, only four in 10 First Nation young adults living on-reserve graduatedfrom high school.
The most recent attempt to negotiate major reserve school reform was initiated in 2011 by Shawn Atleo,
then National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and Chuck Strahl, then Minister ofIndigenous and Northern Affairs (INAC). It culminated in April 2014 with the tabling in Parliamentof the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act (C-33) and the accompanying federal budget
promising significantly increased education funding. However, the bill was not enacted. It fell victim toconflicts within the AFN and to adamant partisan opposition in Parliament.
While Bill C-33 failed, the crisis in reserve schools remains. In this Commentary, Barry Anderson andJohn Richards make the case that the core problem in reserve schools is low-quality results on both coreacademic and culturally relevant subjects, which in turn lead to low high-school completion rates.
To address this core problem, they outline, at a broad level, the elements of a reform agenda: a feasible
strategy to address national budgeting for reserve schools; an emphasis on outcomes over inputs;
affirmation of band responsibilities; regionalization of INAC’s professional capacity; and an emphasis on
incremental as opposed to encompassing reforms.
Each year sees another cohort of students who have passed through a failing system and another newcohort of students entering the same system. Reconciliation and common sense require that improvements
be made – and made quickly.

C.D. Howe Institute Commentary© is a periodic analysis of, and commentary on, current public policy issues. Michael Benedictand James Fleming edited the manuscript; Yang Zhao prepared it for publication. As with all Institute publications, theviews expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Institute’s members or Boardof Directors. Quotation with appropriate credit is permissible.
To order this publication please contact: the C.D. Howe Institute, 67 Yonge St., Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1J8. The
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2

The performance of band-operated, on-reserve schools,
while much better than the residential schools they replaced,remains very weak in comparison with provincial schools.
One explanation is that reserve schools struggle
with acute social problems and geographic isolation.
Another arises from inadequate school resources
and unnecessarily complex administrative relations,with both federal and provincial governments.
While policies pursued by First Nations and thefederal government over the last half-century haveproduced improvements relative to the tragedyof residential schools in the first half of the 20th
century, they have not lived up to expectations.
I. Background
The most recent attempt, at a national level, tonegotiate major reserve school reform was initiatedin 2011 by Shawn Atleo, then National Chief of
the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and Chuck
Strahl, then Minister of Indigenous and Northern
Affairs (INAC).1 It culminated in April 2014
with tabling in Parliament of the First Nations
Control of First Nations Education Act (C-33)
and the accompanying federal budget promising
significantly increased education funding.2
However, the bill never became law. It fell
victim to conflicts within the AFN and to adamantpartisan opposition in Parliament. Given thecontroversy, Atleo chose to resign as National Chief.

12Thereafter, the government abandoned the bill andwithdrew the associated increase in school funding.
(For further details on Bill C-33 and its historicalcontext, see Appendix A.)
At the core of Bill C-33 was an attempt tolegislate minimum administrative procedures forreserve schools and to encourage First Nations toform the equivalents of provincial school districts.
The legislation did not, however, specify clear
educational objectives, nor did the budget provide
details about allocation of the proposed new funding.
Bill C-33’s fate indicates the difficultyof reconciling legislation embodying social
policy reform with many First Nation leaders’interpretation of treaty rights, an interpretation
sceptical of redesigned school administration
or delegation to encompassing institutions. The
diversity of viewpoints among First Nation leaders
and the often poorly informed positions advanced
in Parliament mean that legislating reserve-school
reform has become a Sisyphean exercise. A lesson
from the ill-fated Bill C-33 is that the path to abetter education future for First Nation children
should probably avoid comprehensive legislationand instead settle for modest legislative goals – oravoid legislation altogether.

The authors thank several anonymous reviewers and Colin Busby, Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute, forcomments on earlier drafts. We retain responsibility for any errors and for the views expressed.
Strahl did not run in the 2011 general election, and hence did not lead the government side in negotiations leading toBill C-33. The financial details incorporated in the 2014/15 budget were negotiated between Atleo and former Prime
Minister Harper. Following the October 2015 general election, the former Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
Development Canada has been renamed the Ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
Bill C-33 is available at http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Doc
Id=6532106.

3

Commentary 444

Meanwhile, the crisis in Aboriginal education,
particularly on-reserve, remains. There will
inevitably be further attempts at reform. The next
round is more likely to succeed if it focuses ona well-defined problem and allows for multiple
pragmatic solutions. The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, which reported in 2015, maderecommendations concerning the need to improve
on-reserve schools and close the Aboriginal/
non-Aboriginal gap in education outcomes(TRC 2015,320-21). While the report makes aneloquent appeal for a fuller acknowledgment by
non-Aboriginal Canadians of the trauma createdby residential schools, it does not deal with thepragmatic changes likely to reduce education
outcome gaps.
In this Commentary, we make the case that thecore problem in reserve schools is low-quality resultson both core academic and culturally relevant subjects,
which in turn lead to low high-school completion
rates. To address this core problem, we outline,
at a broad level, the elements of a reform agenda:
a feasible strategy to address national budgetingfor reserve schools; an emphasis on outcomesover inputs; affirmation of band responsibilities;
regionalization of INAC’s professional capacity;
and an emphasis on incremental as opposed toencompassing reforms. In Appendix B, we take noteof a long list of secondary services required for amodern school system.
A literal reading of federal legislation implies
large discretion available to INAC in implementing
school reforms. However, given expansive legal
interpretation of treaty rights over the lastgeneration and current political convention, theability of INAC to intervene is limited.3 The
political context is fraught with difficulties for both

3

First Nation chiefs and for cabinet ministers hoping
to make a difference. Despite this, government
can work with chiefs and bands to nudge reserve
schools toward improving student achievement in
the core academic subjects of reading, mathematics
and science, as well as in Aboriginal languages
and cultural studies. Since the content of coreacademic courses is not culturally specific – albeit,
the curriculum should incorporate Aboriginal
experience – INAC’s influence can be more explicit
here than in the domain of cultural studies, where
INAC must follow local preferences. Our argument
has parallels to that made a generation ago by US
management consultant W. Edwards Demingin the context of business: quality improvements
typically result from a multitude of small changes
that in turn arise from careful analysis of the evidence.
II. The Cor e Problem
First Nation children with low levels of education
face a future plagued by unemployment, poverty,
limited social and economic opportunities, crime,
health problems and an ongoing reliance on federal
and provincial government support for housing.
This bleak prospect should make improving
education results for on-reserve students imperative
for bands, the AFN and the federal government.
High-school completion is a low but crucial rungon the ladder to regular employment. Even thoughpassing final high-school exams is an imperfectsymbol of students’ knowledge, the certificate itself
has become a widely used screen by employers andthose responsible for access to further education.
It is hard to exaggerate the role of high-school
completion in predicting whether a teenager avoids
poverty over his or her lifetime. Whether students

For an accessible survey of the evolution since 1982 of the Supreme Court interpretation of section 35 of the Constitution
Act, see Gibson (2009).

4

Figure 1: High-School Certification or Above (Selected Aboriginal Identity Groups and NonAboriginals, by Selected Age Cohorts, 2011)
Percent
100
90
80
70

89.9
79.6

Non-Aboriginal
91.6

90.9

83.7

82.6

Métis

78.0

75.2
69.8

North American Indian / First Nation, Off-reserve

60

70.2
66.8

56.4
50.6

50
40

78.4

42.0

North American Indian / First Nation, On-reserve

20-24

25-34

Ages

35-44

47.7

45 and over

Source: Authors’ calculations from Canada (2013).

are First Nation, Métis or non-Aboriginal, highschool completion increases the probability of being
employed by at least 25 percentage points.4
Among young adults aged 20-24, nine of 10
non-Aboriginals have at least high school, as doeight of 10 Métis and seven of 10 First Nation
living off-reserve. In stark contrast, only four in

4
5

10 First Nation young adults living on-reserve
graduated from high school. At higher educationlevels, the probabilities of employment for the threegroups converge – more than 75 percent for thosewith university degrees.5
The best consistent national evidence for onreserve education results comes from the census (orThe change is from the 25-40 percent range to the 50-65 percent range.
Data in this paragraph are from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). For a more extensive discussion of these data
in relation to Aboriginal education and employment, see Richards (2014).

5

Commentary 444

Figure 2: Student Performance in Reading (BC Reserve Schools, 2010/11 and 2011/12)
Percent
70
At Grade Level

60
50

Two or More Years Behind40
One Year Behind

30
20
10

n

l

te
ar

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

de

rg

1

K

in

Pr
es

ch

oo

0

Above Grade Level

Grade

Source: First Nations Schools Association.

in 2011, the National Household Survey (NHS)
that accompanied the census).6 While the census
does not provide the location of respondents’ K-12
schooling, their residential location is a useful,6

7

if imperfect, proxy for the probable location ofprimary schooling.7
Figure 1, based on 2011 NHS data, shows how
high-school completion varies by both identity

In addition to bias arising from self-reporting, the 2011 NHS data are biased by their voluntary nature. The federal
government in 2011 eliminated mandatory participation in the long-form, 20-percent sample used in previous censuses.
The voluntary reporting bias is probably worse among Aboriginals than in the overall population. Probably those
Aboriginals most alienated from mainstream Canadian society have lower education levels than the average and are
more likely than other Aboriginals not to have participated in the NHS sample. Hence, some unknowable portion of thereported improvement in education levels between the 2006 and 2011 censuses should be attributed to the change in census
protocols. The NHS bias is most extreme in highly disaggregated communities where participation was exceptionally low.
The 2016 census will restore the mandatory long-form, 20-percent sample.
Most First Nation young adults living on-reserve probably received most of their primary schooling there as young children.
There are few secondary on-reserve schools and, regardless of location, either on- or-off reserve, most First Nation students
who pursued secondary studies probably attended an off-reserve high school.

6group and age among all populations. The age
cohort 20 – 24 is the youngest tabulation for which
it is reasonable to expect high-school completion.
Those in the oldest cohort illustrated were born
prior to 1965 and if they completed high school,
most would have done so before 1980.
Within the non-Aboriginal population, morethan one in five of those aged 45 and older did notcomplete high school. For non-Aboriginal adults
below age 45, 90 percent high-school completionhas become the norm. The analogous profile for
Métis tracks that for non-Aboriginals, but isroughly eight to 10 percentage points lower for all
cohorts. While Métis high-school completion rates
for younger cohorts have not converged with thosefor non-Aboriginals, the percentage-point increases
for Métis (relative to age 45 and older) havematched the increases for non-Aboriginals.
The story among those identifying as First
Nation is more complex. For both on- and offreserve First Nation, the highest high-school
completion rates occur at middle age (the cohort
aged 35 – 44). The differences between middle
age and young adult (ages 20 – 24) First Nation
cohorts are much larger than for Métis and nonAboriginals.
Nationally, one-half of the population identifying
as North American Indian/First Nation live offreserve. Among them, the middle-age, off-reservehigh-school completion rate approaches 80 percent,not far below the analogous statistic for Métis. But

8for on-reserve First Nation members, the middleage completion rate is well below 60 percent. Moretroubling, the completion rate for the age 20 – 24
on-reserve cohort is only slightly above 40 percent.
Although this cohort will presumably increase its
education credentials as it ages, its present highschool completion rate is below that of its parents’generation (age 45 and older).8With few exceptions, reserve schools yield poor
results on basic measures of standard academic
performance. Figure 2 compares the reading
performance of students attending BC reserve
schools to norms for all provincial students. The
small improvement in the percentage that reads at
grade level after Grade 8 is likely due to dropouts
among students with poor reading ability rather
than to any increase in reading ability among thecohort that survived to Grade 8.
A troubling conclusion from Figure 2 is that thepercentage of on-reserve students who are one or
two years behind the provincial norm increases thelonger students have been in school. A corollary isthat the proportion of students who are at or above
grade level falls.9 While some BC reserve schools
do not follow this trend, similar results exist forreserve schools across Canada and US.10
Figure 3 illustrates high-school completion
rates among young adults living on-reserve in thesix provinces from Quebec to BC, according to
the 2011 NHS data. Collectively, the six are home
to roughly nine of 10 Aboriginal Canadians.11

Students who complete secondary school are probably more likely to migrate off reserve than those who do not. This
complicates interpretation of the census “snapshot” in Figure 1. The increase in education among the on-reserve cohort
aged 20-24 in 2011 will probably be higher than that indicated by the difference between on-reserve cohorts currently aged
35-44 and 20-24.
9 The performance norms underlying Figure 2 apply to all students, not just Aboriginal students. It is possible that reserve
schools are more effective than off-reserve schools in teaching Aboriginal students.
10 See, for example, a profile of reading by grade in northern Quebec schools (Quebec 2009). See also Demmert andMcCardle (2006).
11 There are few locations where there is a watertight division between reserve and provincial schools. First Nation families
may migrate on- and off-reserve and, at any time, more than one-third of reserve school-age children living on-reserve areattending a provincial school. Children living on reserve but attending an off-reserve school are primarily those attending
secondary school (INAC 2015).

7

Commentary 444

Figure 3: High-School Certification or Above (First- Nation Adults, On-Reserve, Age 20-24, Canada
and Selected Provinces, 2011)
Percent

59.4

60
50
40

48.9
42.0

42.0
33.6

34.0

29.8

30
20
10
0

CanadaBC

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

QuebecSource: Authors’ calculations from Canada (2013).

While the completion rate in BC should not invitecomplacency, it is twice the rate in Manitoba. The
dramatic interprovincial differences in completion
rates imply that differences in quality of provincial
school systems, both on- and off-reserve, areprobably part of any explanation. To what extent isthis true?
The ideal answer to this question requires a
regression analysis on a large national sample ofyoung First Nation adults, identifying a set of
relevant socioeconomic factors for each individual

and indexing the province and school in which hisor her education took place.
The Figure 4 scatterplot illustrates a much cruder
analysis, based on 18 First Nation populations
defined from tabulated 2006 census data.12 This
exercise involves three defined populations for eachof the six provinces: (1) provincial on-reserve; (2)off-reserve living in a census metropolitan area
(CMA); and (3) off-reserve living in a non-CMA
community.

12 The advantage of 2006 data over 2011 data is that the former are derived from mandatory participation in a 20 percent
national sample, whereas the 2011 data are derived from voluntary participation in the NHS.

8

Figure 4: First-Nation High-School Completion Rates, Ages 20-24, by Overall Employment Rates,
2006
High-School
Completion Rate
(percent)
75
70

QC(rural)65

SA(CMA)

60
55

First Nation, off-reserve

50

ON(rural)SA(rural)BC

MB(CMA)

45
40

SA

35

First Nation, on-reserve

AB(CMA)AB(rural)MB(rural)

ON

QC

AB

30
25

BC(rural)

QC(CMA)
BC(CMA)
ON(CMA)

MB
30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

Employment Rate (percent)

Source: Authors’ calculations from Canada (2008a, 2008b).

The scatterplot shows the average high-school
completion rate for young adults in each of these 18
First Nation populations and the associated average
employment rate (among those in the relevant
sub-population, age 15 and over). The employment

rate here serves as proxy, in each sub-population,
for socioeconomic conditions likely to influencehigh-school completion.13 The two trend lines, foron- and off-reserve populations, illustrate projected
high-school completion rates by regressing high-

13 See Sharpe et al. (2009) for an analysis of the relative importance of socioeconomic and family characteristics indetermining Aboriginal incomes.

9school completion rates on employment rates
and an index variable to identify on-reserve
populations.14
We expect a statistically significant positive
relationship between the high-school completion
rate of young adults and overall employment rate.
We also expect that, for a given employment rate,
the completion rate will be lower for on-reserve
populations. Such are, indeed, the results of theregression. At any given employment rate among
those age 15 and older, the high-school completion
rate of young-adult on-reserve First Nations is
expected to be 15 percentage points below that of
an off-reserve population.
The range of employment rates among the
18 populations is large, indicating considerable
disparity in average prosperity and projectededucation levels. For the Manitoba and Saskatchewan
on-reserve populations, the employment rate is
only slightly above 30 percent. For three off-reserve
populations, one in Ontario and two in Alberta, theemployment rate exceeds 60 percent.
To the extent the employment rate is areasonable proxy for socio-economic factors bearing
on education outcomes, this exercise provides
some justification for interpreting the deviations
from trend as a result of differing quality among
the relevant schools. (A positive deviation implies
the actual high-school completion rate is better
than expected; a negative deviation implies inferior

Commentary 444

performance.) The regression fits the on-reserve
populations reasonably well. The major exception
is BC, where the actual rate is 13 percentage
points above the projection. The off-reserve BC
populations are also above projection.
The second largest on-reserve deviation is in
Manitoba, where the actual rate is 6.4 points below
the projection. The actual high-school completion
rates for the two Manitoba off-reserve populations
also lie well below projection. In five of the six
provinces, Manitoba being the exception, urban
areas have higher high-school completion rates
than do rural.
In addition to school quality, other unspecified
factors matter. For example, the large negative
deviations of Alberta off-reserve populations
probably reflect the consequences of a provincial
resource boom (at the time of the 2006 census). Theboom generated an exceptional regional demand
for workers, including those without high-school
certification. This, in turn, probably lowered
expectations among students as to the importanceof high-school completion.
III. A n Importa nt A side:
L a nguage a nd Cult ur e
A prerequisite to improving reserve schools is toacknowledge First Nations legitimate distrust of
government, rooted in Canada’s efforts to dismantle

14 The index variable in the regression takes into account the inherent difficulties of on-reserve students graduating, given
their high probability of living in isolated communities and having studied, at least at the primary level, in a small onreserve school. The regression result is y = 33.2 + 0.51x1 – 14.7x2, where y is the projected average high-school completion
rate among young adults for each population, x1 is the employment rate among the relevant sub-population age 15 andover, and x2 is an index variable designating a reserve location. (The adjusted R2 is 0.67. The employment rate is significant
at 5 percent one-tail and the on-reserve index at 1 percent one-tail.) The regression could be re-specified to add an index
distinguishing CMA from rural/urban non-CMA populations. Such an index has the expected sign (implying higher
CMA than non-CMA completion rates) but is insignificant. The small number of observations means the regression result
is far from definitive.

10

Aboriginal languages and cultures, in particularthrough residential schools.15 The First Nations’fundamental rationale for control over reserve
schools is their desire to preserve their heritageand indigenous languages. Language and culture
programs are closely connected to local history andconditions so, unlike core academic curricula, thesecourses and programs are usually developed locally.
Our proposal that INAC focus on core academic
subjects does not prevent individual First Nations
from pursuing language and culture objectives.
We expect they will do so. Historically, INAC’s
education branch has steadfastly refused tofund separately Aboriginal language and culture
programs on grounds that INAC’s mandate is tofund the teaching of subjects taught in provincial
schools. Bill C-33 made reference to funding
language and culture, but was vague about what
this would mean in practice. Ideally, INAC would
negotiate agreements, probably on a school-byschool basis, to fund language and culture services.
In doing this it will have to relax the pressurethat it exerts on band schools to mimic provincial
policies.16
Meanwhile, reserve schools should be seeking
observable improvement in the results of language
and culture programs as much as in core academic
subjects. With INAC support for programmingthat encourages language and cultural studies,bands will have to determine how to deliver these
activities and how to demonstrate to themselves
and to INAC that the programs are successful.

I V. Action Steps
Without waiting for legislation, INAC, AFN andFirst Nation councils can act to improve school
results quite quickly. We recognize that First
Nations desire legislation to protect their treaty
rights and ensure appropriate funding for theirschools. We recognize also Parliament’s need tovote budgets and, finally, we acknowledge that rapid
devolution of responsibility and authority can leadto expensive failures. None of the steps we propose
require legislation, although it would be wise forgovernment to consider, in due course, a legislative
framework. The seven steps discussed below aresummarized in Table 1.
Step 1: Fund each school to match provincial
spending for similar conditions
The most persistent demand from reserve schoolleaders is that INAC close the “funding gap”
between its per-student funding for reserve schools
and provincial per-student funding for comparable
students in comparable provincial schools. First
Nation advocacy groups, civil servants andcompetent scholars have all attempted to measure
the gap (Drummond and Rosenbluth 2013; Postl
2005). The dilemma in defining the INAC schoolbudget based on closing this gap is the impossibilityof defining the gap. There are few provincial schools
to use as comparators. Forty percent of reserve
schools have fewer than 50 students; more thanhalf have fewer than 100 (Richards and Scott2009, 60). Over the last two generations, provincial

15 See, for example, the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 2015). See also the final report of a Senate
inquiry on urban Aboriginals “[T]here is a deep mistrust among some Aboriginal people of mainstream educational
institutions. The importance of obtaining a good education becomes secondary to what may be perceived as a further
assimilative assault on Aboriginal culture, language and traditions. (Canada 2003, s.1.4.)”
16 For example, few on-reserve residents know their indigenous language and hold teaching certificates. As a result, band
schools cannot hire teachers who speak the language as long as INAC insists that they have certificates.

11

Commentary 444

Table 1: Improving Results
Step

1. Funding

2. Focus on Results

3. Clarify Responsibility
and Authority

From: System Maintenance•

Annual (some five-year agreements)•

Slow response to changing costs•

No connection to results•

To: Improving Results•

Education budgets compete with other INAC
spending

Band school funding reflects size andcomposition of student body, school size andlocation, regional costs and service levels tied tointended results. Responds to changes annually••Some funds allocated to INAC-controlled
services

Tuition for provincial school tuition issegregated from other band school costs••

No provision for second-level services

Within INAC, education funding is segregatedand protected. Bands allowed to lapse unspent
funds

•

Cash flow out of sync with spending•

Some INAC funds pay for results•

Unanswerable (and unending) complaints about
adequacy•

Second-level services are funded•

Monthly cash flow aligned with school spending•

School budgets set with expectation thatper student funding exceed provincial levels,
probably by a third•

Focus on administration – reports, accounting,data collection and budget•

Focus on results•

INAC driven•

Band-driven, INAC-supported•

No analysis of school performance•

School results measured, reported and used toplan improvements•

Tacit acceptance of poor performance by INAC
(which should know better) and bands (which
may not)•

High expectations for achievement andimprovement•

Follow-up to assess students’ success after
they go to other schools, post-secondary or
workplace•Bands nominally responsible for schools••

Multiple, un-prioritized goals

Goals to originate with the Band Council and/or collective recommendations of parents•

Goals infrequently “SMART” (Specific,
Measureable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely)••

Assessments may not be connected to goals

School goals expected to incorporate “SMART”
process; small in number (10 or fewer ) and used
to guide improvement•

Student results are not aggregated into measuresof school goals•

Clear prioritization of goals, regular assessmentof progress and school plans to improve results•

Goals and measures are not used as basis for
improvement••

New processes that may not improve
achievement can substitute for goals and be
driven by INAC funding (e.g., early-learning
services

Effectiveness of plans reviewed at least annuallyand used to set the following year’s priorities
and improvement strategies

12

Table 1: Continued
Step

4. Improve Region andBand Capacities

From: System Maintenance

To: Improving Results•

Little professional development•

High turnover in schools and regional offices•

No attention paid to quality of results

5. Incremental
Improvements•
6. Pay for Improvement

7. Second-Level Services

Funds allocated only to institutions andprograms•

Regional and school staff heavily involved insetting goals, measures and reporting•

School evaluation processes involve staff
in assessing successes and planning for
improvements•

Quality improvement cycles implemented in all
regions and band schools•

School communities engaged in improvement
effort•Funds allocated to institutions, but program
funding rolled into general school support•

Separate funding to pay for measured year-overyear improvement in key areas•

Support is inconsistent•Services are identified•

Services not identified•

Cost for each service and school is estimated•Funding is scraped together from regional funds•

Funds are allocated to schools to purchaseservices or to second-level service providers

Source: Authors’ compilation.

school systems have closed most such small schools
for reasons of scale economies. For small reserve
schools, there are almost no “comparable provincial
schools” to serve as benchmarks. At a minimum,
special provisions need to be made for funding
extremely small and extremely remote schools.
A new funding system intended to rebuild
trust and get improvement underway need not becomplicated or final. Initially, it could concentrateon proper support for school-based operations, suchas teacher salaries and student transport, leaving
more complicated second-level services, such as
specialized teaching personnel, for later budget
cycles. With hard work on the part of INAC andFirst Nations and a cabinet mandate to negotiate

up to a higher national budgetary cap, such a system
could be implemented for the coming 2016/17
school year. It would be built subject to an aggregate
budget target and in such a way that most schools
would experience significant increased funding.
More on that below.
In some cases, the gap (however defined) is
undeniably large. On the other hand, in some cases
INAC funding probably exceeds provincial funding.
Instead of searching for elusive provincial schools
to use as benchmarks, Michael Mendelson of theCaledon Institute of Social Policy poses a more
relevant question: “How do you set up a mechanismthat will be reliable, that First Nations will haveconfidence in, that parliamentarians will feel is13adequately accountable and that will ensure parity
in the future?” (Drummond and Rosenbluth 2013, 21).
One approach to Mendelson’s question is Resource
Cost Modeling (Chambers and Parrish 1983).
Under this approach, experts would work with
INAC and First Nations within each region. They
would construct lists of service levels for schools of
various sizes and grade levels. The costs associatedwith each unit of service would be calculated
and the total would become a school’s fiscal
requirement. The actual entitlement, however, would
depend on the Parliamentary budget allocation.
A difficult, but surmountable obstacle isobtaining sufficient consensus on the necessary
services. Once service levels are agreed upon, it iscomparatively simple to work out a fiscal frameworkthat keeps overall costs within some target range.
The resulting framework is a financial document,
not a statement of how services should be delivered.
Schools should be free to re-arrange spending tosuit local aspirations and abilities.
A fiscal framework becomes a “living document”
subject to pressures to add services along withcompeting pressures to contain expenditures.
Resolving the resulting tensions becomes anongoing task. It is not simple, but given a clear
understanding of how changes in costs and services
affect funding, an annual review process could
be used to amend the framework and adjust to
unanticipated conditions.
We do not presume in this Commentary to
specify precisely how to eliminate obstacles created

Commentary 444

by the legacy of the “funding gap” debate. We do,
however, offer observations that may be helpful.
A potential way forward exists in the financial
agreement struck between former prime minister
Stephen Harper and AFN Chief Shawn Atleo, andincorporated in the 2014 budget (Canada 2014, 76).
The agreement was, in effect, a signing bonus of$1.9 billion additional INAC education spending,most of it spread over three years, conditional on
passage of Bill C-33. The financial agreement had
little impact in the 2014 debate over Bill C-33
because it was reached at the 11th hour and there
was no indication forthcoming from INAC as
to the impact on individual First Nation schoolbudgets.
Based on the 2012/13 INAC educationbudget for K-12 reserve schools, the financial
agreement would have amounted to a 25 percent
annual increase for the following three years – anincrease presumably to be continued thereafter.
If insufficient funding is to be removed as an
obstacle to educational improvement, INAC
should be prepared to spend in the proposed range
incorporated in the 2014 budget. Indeed, oursuggestion is that government and chiefs accept
as an interim budget an approximate 35 percent
premium over average per-student spending inprovincial public schools.17
The school funding formula need not be finalized
when first implemented. In fact, annual refinements
and improvements are likely to be necessary forseveral years. INAC could have the first iteration

17 In 2012/13, INAC budgeted $1.6 billion for funding 113,000 reserve K-12 students in either reserve or nearby provincial
schools. This amounts to $14,300 per student. The Statistics Canada estimate of average per-student K-12 funding inprovincial schools is $13,300. The most important element in the financial agreement between Atleo and Harper was a$1.25 billion increase in core funding over three years (or $420 million per year). While the formal agreement was for three
years, it was a more-or-less ongoing commitment to increase INAC per-student funding by 25 percent (from $14,300
to $18,000). Relative to average 2012/13 provincial per-student funding, the financial agreement would have created a
35 percent premium for average reserve K-12 students ([$18,000 – $13,300]/$13,300) (INAC 2015; Canada 2014, 76;
Statistics Canada 2013).

14

of such a system operating in time for the 2016/17
school year. Eventually, aggregate spending shouldbe the result of criteria, embodied in statute, which
define needed on-reserve educational services.
Defining these criteria will require several years.
As a further means to make First Nations
accountable to Parliament, Bill C-33 would haverequired First Nations to keep separate educationaccounts. This makes sense. The First Nations
Financial Transparency Act requires First Nations topost audited statements online. This requirement
should extend to education spending.
An important detail in the “funding gap” debate
arises from the fact that some students living onreserve attend nearby provincial schools to which
the relevant First Nation pays tuition. In 2012/13,
slightly over one-third of all students living onreserve attended a provincial school (INAC 2015).
At present, INAC funding must cover the operationof band-operated schools as well as tuition costs
charged to the band for its students attending
provincial schools. First Nations have no control
over this component of their education costs andfriction between bands and provincial school
districts frequently arises over the magnitude oftuition costs charged. We recommend that INAC
regional offices negotiate a tuition formula with therelevant provincial education ministry.18
Table 1 identifies two more componentsthat should be added to the funding system:(1) supplementary funds to encourage new
improvements and results, and (2) separate funds tosupport second-level services.

such as mandatory hiring of certified teachers
only, using the provincial curriculum and reporting
academic results to INAC using INAC forms. Suchmechanisms presume the existence of consensus
on goals and the means to attain them, the ability
to coordinate by disseminating information, anda predictable set of problems and responses toproblems. Little of this characterizes public, letalone reserve, schools (Elmore 2006).
Instead, we advocate much more focus on
results and much less on inputs and processes.
Continuation of the status quo allows bands toattribute poor performance to INAC.
There is lots of measurement in education –some say too much. But schools generally haveneither the time nor the skills to be thoughtful
about the relationship between measured results
and intended outcomes. They rarely seek thereasons for variation in results. Differences canbe understood with questions such as why somestudents do better than others and what concepts
students do or do not understand. Once schools
develop a culture of asking such questions andexamining outcome measures, they are in a better
position to plan. As connections are drawn amongplans, instruction and results, school performance
will rise.
As Table 2 suggests, focusing on, and assessing
progress toward, results need not be complex. Even
ongoing review of a few measures will help a school
achieve better results for students.

Step 2: Focus on results

Attaining high-quality results on core academic
as well as culturally relevant subjects is difficult
for any school. For band schools, it is especially soin the face of the varied and often difficult social

Today, INAC indirectly attempts to improve thequality of band schools by imposing requirements

Step 3: Clarify band responsibility and authority

18 In BC, where the provincial education ministry controls tuition rates charged to bands by school districts, there has beensome progress on this issue. Even so, tuition charges to First Nations have risen much more quickly recently than INAC
funding to bands.

15

Commentary 444

Table 2: An Outline for Assessing Progress
Canada-wide Objective – High Achievement (Task of INAC and AFN)
Goal

Metric•Academic success

High-school completion•

First Nations’ language & cultural competence To be determined

School Level Drivers (Task of Chief andBand Council supported by INAC))

Information Source
Band and public school records
Band records

MetricData Sources•

Operating funding

Per-pupil spending at least comparable INAC, provincial, school board and band
to provincial levels
records (depends on province)•

Capital funding

Facilities in adequate condition

INAC records

Effective Schools•

Strong administrative leadership

Assessment of principal- Statements and practices at eachschool•High expectations of students- Grade-level achievement- Attendance

Performance reports
School documents
Assessment results
Missed days
Follow-up information- Successful transition to other schools•

Orderly atmosphere

Reports and observation

School documents•

Basic skills acquisition as the school’s primary
purposeSchool documents

Observation, surveys of teachers and students•

Capacity to divert school energy andresources from other activities to advance theschool’s basic purpose

School control over budget priorities.

School budgets, teaching assignments•

Frequent monitoring of pupil progress

Frequency of assessments

Teacher records•

Evidence-based improvement plan

Assessments as a basis for planning

Reports and recommendations•

Teacher quality

Certification and in-service evaluationby principal

Teacher files•

Teacher retention and supply

Turnover rates

Employment records•

Curriculum contains clear scope andsequence, specific measureable learning
outcomes, learning resources and appropriate
assessments

Existence and use of documents foreach subject, including language andcultureReview of records

Community involvement: parental
participation, community financial support,
low tolerance for alcohol and drugs, highexpectations for children and for healthypre-natal behaviour by prospective parents.

Metrics for each element

School records•

Source: Authors’ compilation.

16

and cultural conditions they face. To deal withthis challenge, each school and community should
undertake to develop its own plan to improve results.
Clarifying local responsibility for planning andimprovement would reinforce the centrality ofeducation in band affairs. It would also avoid oneof the important mistakes in the Bill C-33 process.
C-33 proposed a framework for school organization
with scant reference to education outcomes. As aresult, many bands saw the proposed organizationalframework as a threat to treaty rights.
Not all bands are able or willing to accept
responsibility for education. INAC and provincial
education ministries will need to collaborate with
one another and with bands to ensure successfultransition to full band control. Some bands
may wish simply to ensure appropriate links toprovincial school districts in order to obtain secondlevel services.19
As time passes, legal, procedural andorganizational impediments will inevitably appear.
Issues can be addressed as identified, probably
without resort to legislation. Agreements involving
bands, INAC and provinces, such as BC’s successful
Tripartite Agreement, are valuable precedents(Strahl and Richards 2012).
Step 4: Improve professional capacity in regions
and Bands
One of the features distinguishing Canada frommost other OECD countries is the absence of anational education ministry. The strategic decisions
made by the provinces are not always wise, but
Canadian K-12 education outcomes are almost
certainly superior to what they would be were
they to depend on centrally designed programs

emanating from Ottawa. On the other hand, tothe extent strategic planning for reserve schools
takes place, it originates in Ottawa – where little
education expertise exists. That need not be.
INAC is divided into seven regions (Atlantic
Canada plus one per province from Quebec
westward). Something analogous to the provincialrole in education should take place in INAC’s
regions, with individual First Nations replacing
school boards in exercising jurisdiction over
on-reserve schools. To achieve this, the regional
INAC offices need the capacity to develop
on-reserve leadership that will encourage andsupport education initiatives originating withFirst Nations. This implies regional offices withqualified staff empowered to engage with bands
as well as with provincial ministries of education.
These officials also need to be skilled at providing
leadership assistance to diverse and geographicallyscattered schools.
As Elmore (2006) has noted, the numberof people around the world possessing theskills needed to manage a program of school
improvement is very limited. INAC should
therefore expand its support of professional
development among personnel in band-operated
schools. Associations such as BC’s First Nations
Education Steering Committee or First Nations
Schools Association as well as Nova Scotia’s
Mikmaq Kinamatnewey have emerged with INAC
support. INAC should strive to create similar
agencies throughout Canada.
Professional development does not mean hiringexternal administrators. INAC and bands should
aim at inculcating the skills needed to teach in,and manage improvement of, a school. Hiring

19 We include provincial ministries because a high proportion of on-reserve students attend provincial schools at some pointin their school career. Provincial ministries have to be brought into the discussions about improvement as they, too, have toaccept responsibility for improving results for on-reserve and other Aboriginal students.

17

outsiders to do this work will almost inevitably leadto high staff turnover and instability in the schools
as staff seek to move to larger school systems thatoffer more professional stability, income andhigher pensions.
In the case of band-operated schools, newpersonnel are unlikely to remain if poor working
conditions prevail. In addition to salaries, and theusual difficulties of teaching, employees of bandoperated schools face the vagaries of band politics.
There should be less politics and more merit in
the hiring and firing of teachers and principals,
and there should be more security for teachers. In
addition, competitive salaries and isolation bonuses
would help stabilize and improve the on-reserve
teaching force.
Step 5: Seek incremental improvements to results
Deming (1982, 1994) is an internationallyrenowned expert on quality improvement inbusiness whose wisdom applies also to education.
A central theme of his writing is that quality
improvement is incremental and arises from manysmall, evidence-based changes proposed by anobservant and empowered workforce. He had little
faith in the pursuit of “silver bullets” sought by amanagement removed from day-to-day work.
In its simplest form, Deming’s approach requires
five steps: (1) measure results; (2) thoughtfullycompare results with expectations; (3) examine
variation in results to assess what differentiates
desired from undesired outcomes; (4) take action
toward improvement and (5) repeat Steps 1 – 4
to ensure improvement is taking place. These
steps constitute a quality improvement cycle.
When widely practised within an organization,

Commentary 444

the cycle yields more consistent performanceand higher levels of attainment – in other words
better quality. Clearly, it is not a simple task tokeep an organization focused on improving results.
Administrative distractions constantly draw energy
away from quality.
Externally defined procedures, programs
and reporting are unlikely to improve quality aseffectively as local norms, values and controls.
This implies that Ottawa-based and managed
education programs should be phased out infavour of local plans to monitor and improvestudent results. Following Thaler, and Sunstein(2008), strategies to “nudge” improvements at onreserve schools could emerge at the regional level.
Regional INAC officials can be expected to have abetter understanding of local initiatives than their
Ottawa-based colleagues.
If improving results is to become the focus ofaccountability, everyone in the system involved
with a reserve school will have to become engaged.
Successful management of improvement must
go beyond anything INAC could propose or
implement itself, probably also beyond how First
Nation leaders currently engage with parents,
teachers and band members.
Many First Nation and Métis educators areworking to improve results, as are educators inmany provincial schools with Aboriginal students.
INAC and bands could capitalize on existing efforts
by adopting regional policies and processes thatenhance schools’ capacity to improve themselves.20
Also, by using existing efforts as practical examples,
AFN and INAC could encourage bands andregions to develop incremental improvement
programs. They could later encourage other bands

20 One illustration at the school level is provided by recent quality improvement in two Ontario band-operated schools(Geddes 2015). Another, at the provincial level, is provided by BC’s annual How are We Doing? reports on quality
improvement for Aboriginal students.

18

and regions to participate in, or replicate, successfulprograms. INAC will need to ensure funding tosupport regional information sharing is in place,either at schools, in regional organizations such as
BC’s First Nations Education Steering Committee,
or in its own regional offices

schools to improve and a reason for them to obtainand analyze performance information.
The main reason to pay for improvements is that
schools are “loosely coupled organizations” (Weick1982). They lack a tightly controlled hierarchy –both within the school and above the school level –that can direct the work of teachers. There is limited
inspection and evaluation by principals and other
Step 6: Pay for improvement
managers. Teachers usually work in isolation from
Money is clearly an important attention-getting
one another and are reluctant to give one anotherincentive. INAC should designate a small portion
unsolicited feedback out of respect for professionalof funding to reward schools for improved results.
autonomy.
The main elements of such a program might be:
In addition, teachers have large spans of control• Define improvement as “notably better than last
over students they do not choose, and schoolyear” on a small number of important outcomesadministrators are burdened by administrative(such as completion rate, numeracy, literacy,
tasks that have little or no relationship to student
native language proficiency and cultural heritageachievement. Financial incentives are one way tocomprehension). INAC should ensure that atleast one-half of these outcome measures refer to keep schools’ attention focused on improvement.
Loose coupling has advantages. It allows rapid
core academic subjects.
response to emerging local conditions, and it• To be eligible for this funding, a First Nation
enables well-motivated teachers to experiment
would have to undertake annual assessmentwith teaching styles and content. On the otherof student performance in the selected areas.
Adopting the core competency tests of thehand, loose coupling makes it next to impossible torelevant province, or using a general measure such implement detailed, centrally developed policies oras high-school completion could do this. But a
directions.21 Loosely coupled organizations needband could also use other assessments of its own
leadership that enables staff to identify problems
choosing. Year-over-year comparisons of schooland find ways to solve them, not management thatlevel performance would be public (although
directs staff along well-defined paths to objectives.
privacy considerations might trump publication•in small schools).

Small financial rewards would be provided toschools that had improved results year over year.
The total amount of the rewards would notexceed 5 percent of normal funding.

Some schools will improve in any given year, but
few schools will be able to improve every year.
Every school will face a limit when no further
improvement is possible. The proposal allows foruneven progress while providing an incentive for

Step 7: Create access to second-level services
Appendix B discusses basic “second-level” services
that can be delivered at reasonable cost only
when delivered to several schools by one agency.
Arranging for these services in the context ofstandalone band-operated schools is exceptionallydifficult. Bill C-33 proposed to provide second-levelservices by encouraging the creation of First Nation

21 For an example of how local issues can displace public policy, see Weatherly and Lipsky (1977).

19

Commentary 444

equivalents of school districts. This solution should
not be ruled out; it can be expected to succeed insome, but certainly not all, contexts.
Provincial education ministries manage secondlevel services by aggregating schools into school
districts and/or by creating service organizations
for regions that encompass many schools or evenmultiple school districts. In public schools, secondlevel services commonly include the following:
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Technology support, including development andmaintenance of wide-area networks that connect
schools, teachers and students to each other andthe Internet.

Once school-level financing has been properly
funded, attention should turn to such secondlevel services. These should be identified, placed inpriority order and built into planning and funding
cycles as quickly as possible.
Sum m a ry a nd Conclusion
Improved student results in band-operated schools
are both a critical and achievable priority. We
summarize our argument with the following bullets:•

Special education diagnosis and special
education services.

Staff development and in-service training.
Consulting and advising services.

•

Legal, accounting and insurance services.

•

Negotiations with INAC and other provincial
school systems.
Facility management and maintenance.
Grounds maintenance.

High-cost, low-incidence special education
services (for example, one school for the deaf,
operated by a school district on behalf of theprovince, serves all of BC; one special education
technology centre provides technology support
for all special needs students in BC).
Transportation management.

••

Capital planning.

Adult education services.

Student counselling and advising services.

Provision of low-enrolment courses (such as
Grade 12 Physics or Aboriginal Studies), either
face-to-face or by distance education.

•

School health services, including prevention
programs.
Collective bargaining.

Volunteer coordination (for example, McKerlich’s(2002) proposal to use retired teachers to support
band-operated schools).

•

The key on-reserve education problem where
INAC’s contribution (primarily via “nudging”)
can extend beyond funding is in addressing
weak academic performance, indicated by low
secondary school completion rates and weak
results for core academic subjects.

First Nation schools can and should define
additional education goals, such as transmissionof cultural heritage and indigenous languages.
There are many ways to improve outcomes.
Selecting solutions that will work in a given
school or reserve is the task of local leadership.
Research offers some best practices that INAC
can systematically make known to local leaders.

First Nation communities face severe social
problems beyond education. But the presence ofother problems should not serve as a pretext todefer attention to poor education outcomes.
INAC initiatives need not require widespread
agreement among all First Nations as aprerequisite. What is necessary is that someindividual First Nations are willing to move
forward – and such innovators exist.

Regional and local action to improve school
quality will encourage the emergence of education
leadership in First Nation communities. Thatsaid, cultural and geographic differences among
First Nations suggest that their leaders will not
quickly converge on common definitions ofeducation problems or on their solutions.
We are confident that most parents living on
reserve want their children to succeed in coreacademic courses. They also want their children
to attain other education outcomes, notably an20ability to retain Aboriginal languages
and cultures.

While Strahl and Atleo had honourable intentions,the first conclusion from their initiative is thatnational legislation prescribing mandatory reserve
school organizational standards, however minimal,
was a bridge too far. Given the times – widespread
First Nations mistrust of INAC, the diversityof local First Nation priorities, internal politicalconflict within the AFN and ambiguity as to
how the promised incremental funding would beallocated – realizing wide First Nation supportfor Bill C-33 was probably doomed. In contrast,
participation in the reforms we propose should
be voluntary.
The second lesson from their initiative is that
overall reserve school funding has to be increased
substantially. For many years, the funding issue
has been consistently raised by First Nations at
negotiation tables. Bill C-33 and the 2014 budget
made clear that even the Conservatives, committed
to a smaller federal government, were willing tospend significantly more on reserve schools.
Third, both INAC and First Nations need toacknowledge the importance of setting measurable
goals, assessing results annually and planning
incremental steps to improve performance insucceeding years. Annual quality-improvement
cycles are a valuable basis for progress. Meanwhile,
processes such as accreditation, assessments,

inspections and teacher in-service development
can all be integrated into such cycles, andshould be sustained by INAC and First Nations.
Administering reserve schools and organizing
links between reserve and provincial schools iscomplex, but there is no need to solve all problems
simultaneously.
Fourth, realizing literacy and numeracy goals areimportant in Canadian schools and are, we believe,
widely accepted in First Nation communities. But
First Nations have additional objectives. Realizing
any education target requires close attention byteachers and school managers. INAC can help
willing on-reserve schools become more resultsoriented. So can chiefs and elders.
The fifth and final lesson from past experience isthat INAC and First Nations should actively workwith provincial education ministries (as has been
done in BC), along with local school districts, tosmooth student transitions between band-operated
and provincial schools, and to increase attention
by provincial schools to the outcomes among First
Nations students.
Time is passing. Each year sees another cohortof students who have passed through a failingsystem and another new cohort of students
entering the same system. Reconciliation andcommon sense require that improvements be made– and made quickly.

21

A ppendi x A
Wh at wa s the proposed Fir st
Nation Control of Fir st
Nation Educ ation Act (BillC-33) a ll a bout? 2 2
Ottawa published two major Aboriginal policy
reviews in the 1960s. The first, now largely
forgotten, was the Hawthorn Report (Canada
1966–67), named for its author, University of
British Columbia anthropologist Harry Hawthorn.
It insisted that policy not be directed at assimilation– “the research on which the Report is based was
not directed to finding ways in which Indians might
be assimilated” (vol.1, 10) – but also insisted “thatindividuals be given the capacity to make choices
which include the decision to take jobs away fromreserves, play a part in politics, and move and residewhere they wish” (vol.1, 10). Central to Hawthorn’svision was expansion of the capacity of individuals,
which required high-quality, on-reserve social
services. Once healthcare and schools of decent
quality were available, Hawthorn predicted, many
reserve residents would choose to leave the reserveand participate in mainstream society, as equals
with other Canadians. He acknowledged that many
would not make that choice and that living onreserve was an equally valid option.
The second review was the infamous “White
Paper” (Canada 1969) presented to Parliament by
Jean Chrétien, at the time Indian Affairs minister in
Pierre Trudeau’s first government. It recommended
abolition of the Indian Act and phasing out reservesin favour of complete integration of First Nations
as equal members of Canadian society. The White
Paper served as foil for Harold Cardinal’s “Red
Paper” (Indian Chiefs of Alberta 1970), an earlyCommentary 444

statement on behalf of indigenous autonomy and an
expansive interpretation of treaty rights.
Given the near-universal rejection of theWhite Paper by First Nation leaders, Ottawa
quickly abandoned it and inaugurated insteada strategy of transferring funds to First Nation
councils in expectation that they design social
programs autonomously. In 1972, the Native
Indian Brotherhood, forerunner of the Assemblyof First Nations, published “Indian Control ofIndian Education,” a submission to the minister.
It summarized contemporary leaders’ expectations
with respect to schools:
The past practice of using the school committee[composed of band members] as an advisory bodywith limited influence, in restricted areas of theschool program, must give way to an education
authority with the control of funds and consequentauthority which are necessary for an effective
decision-making body. The Federal Government
must take the required steps to transfer to local
Bands the authority and the funds which are allotted
for Indian education. (NIB 1972, 30)

Four decades later, in 2011, Shawn Atleo, at thetime National Chief of the Assembly of First
Nations (AFN), and Chuck Strahl, at the time
Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs,
agreed to a major reform of reserve schools, startingwith a joint panel to evaluate the status quo. The
report based much of its analysis on the potential
for a First Nation “supporting structure” equivalent
to that available to provincial schools:
In the early 1970s, following the dissolution of theresidential school system, and the devolution ofFirst Nation education to individual First Nations,virtually no thought was given to the necessary
supporting structure for the delivery of First Nation

22 Appendix A is a précis of Richards (2015), a chapter in State of the Federation, 2013: Aboriginal Multilevel Governance,
Queen’s University.

22

education. There was no clear funding policy, no
service provision and no legislation, standards orregulations to enshrine and protect the rights of achild to a quality education and to set the education
governance and accountability framework. (AFN/
INAC 2012,9)

In the culminating stages of the reform initiative,
AFN leaders and the federal government negotiatedlegislation titled, not surprisingly, The First Nations
Control of First Nations Education Act (Bill C-33).
It was tabled in Parliament in 2014. The bill was
accompanied with a budgetary promise of anadditional $1.9 billion for reserve schools, most of it
spread over three years (Canada 2014,76).
Bill C-33 provoked intense controversy between
Atleo’s supporters and opponents in the AFN. It
also fell victim to partisan politics in Parliament.
Atleo and the government hoped that, in principle,
at second reading, all parties would support C-33.
Instead, both the Liberals and NDP opposed thebill outright. Less than a month after its tabling,
Atleo resigned as National Chief. In response to
his resignation, the government decided not toproceed with the bill and simultaneously withdrew
the increased education funding promised in the
2014/15 budget.23
The bill’s authors wanted to create a legislative
framework that would require First Nations acrossCanada to provide clearer lines of authority for
professional management of reserve schools andenable creation of larger encompassing education
associations. Simultaneously, the bill legislated
the principle of comparable per-student funding.
The key provisions of C-33 can be summarized asfollows:24•

Preamble: The preamble contained 11 “whereas”
clauses that state the dual goals of the legislation••

as perceived by the AFN national office and
INAC. As illustration, one clause refers to theappropriate cultural dimension of First Nation
education (“Whereas First Nations children
attending schools on reserves must have accessto education that is founded on First Nations
history, culture and traditional values.”) Anotherclause refers to a curriculum enabling students toacquire competence in core subjects and hence
be mobile between school systems (“Whereas
First Nations children attending schools on
reserves must have access to elementary andsecondary education that allows them toobtain a recognized high-school diploma andto move between education systems without
impediment.”)

Creation of a Joint Council of Education
Professionals: Given the evolution of federal
policy since the 1970s, the legislative powers of
the Minister responsible for Aboriginal affairs
are rarely used. Nonetheless, wide ministerial
discretion exists. Bill C-33 would have reduced
the discretion in the domain of education bycreation of a Joint Council, to be composed ofan equal number of members appointed by theminister and by “any entity representing theinterests of First Nations that is prescribed byregulation (s.12(1)).” The expectation was thatthe “entity” be the AFN. The duties of the Joint
Council are ill-defined but open-ended.

Enabling First Nation Councils to Delegate
Powers to a First Nation Education Authority:
The bill enabled First Nation councils to delegate
their education powers to a “body corporate
incorporated under federal or provincial
legislation if the agreement meets the conditions
set out in the regulations (s.27(1)).” This enabled
councils to create collectively a reserve equivalentof a school district in provincial systems. While
instances were expected to be rare, this section
also enabled a First Nation council, if it desires,to join a provincial school district.

23 Rennie (2014) offers an account of internal divisions among chiefs on the education reform file.
24 For the parliamentary summary of Bill C-33 see Sineone (2014). For another summary and analysis of Bill C-33 see
Mendelson (2014).

23•

Commentary 444

Specifying Minimum Structure for Schools
Run by a First Nation Council: Bill C-33
required that any council operating schools on
its territory on a “standalone” basis meet certain
statutory requirements:ooo

The council must prepare the school’s annual
budget and provide the Minister and the
Joint Council with a copy (s.21(1)(a)).

The council must appoint individuals to threepositions (s.35 – s.37): director of education
responsible for overall management ofeducation programs; principal responsible
for running a school and school inspector toevaluate school programs.
The principal must, among other duties,
construct a “success plan” stipulatingproximate school goals that the principal
deems appropriate (s.27(2)).

•

Principle for Statutory Funding: The bill
stipulated that payments to a reserve school
must be such as to enable provision of services“of a quality reasonably comparable to that ofsimilar services generally offered in a similarly
sized public school [in the relevant province]that is regulated under provincial legislationand is located in an analogous region (s.43(2)).”
Funding “must include an amount to support the
study of a First Nation language or culture as partof an education program (s.43(4)).”

24

A ppendi x B
Second -Le v el Serv ices
Much of the time spent in negotiations between
Aboriginals and various government levels overthe past 20 years has been devoted to secondlevel services such as standardized testing, special
education, adult education, own-source revenue
policy and data systems. Some second-level service
issues can be dealt with quickly, provided INAC
can obtain the necessary budget. Deciding how
they should be delivered is more challenging, andsolutions would not immediately contribute toimproved school performance.
The following eight items are of a lower
priority than the steps outlined in the main text;
nonetheless, they are significant and require a
consistent policy response.
Extremely Small Schools
Some schools have fewer than five pupils. In suchcircumstances, provincial school systems either
support students to attend distant schools orprovide some form of distance learning. There is
no rule calling for a minimum enrolment to create
or maintain a school, and bands have shown theywant to provide schooling regardless of how many
students participate.
How very small schools are to be financially andtechnically supported needs to be worked out. It issurprisingly complicated, since even a few students
may be spread across several grades. It will takecreative use of reserve residents, distance-education
technology and remote professional expertise tomeet this challenge.
Extremely Isolated Communities
Bad or non-existent roads, poor weather, extreme
distances and rugged terrain conspire to make manyFirst Nation schools very isolated. As a result, theschool’s role in orienting students to the outside

world has little natural local support. Isolation
increases per-student capital requirements andcosts; it affects the likely demographic future of
the community and impacts the school’s ability to
attract and retain qualified staff. Local knowledge
is required to develop service standards andapproaches for such communities.
Access to Expertise
How do small, remote schools gain access to
outside specialists to assist with teaching functions?
For example, when provincial schools enroll
a special-needs student, a school psychologist
typically assesses the student before additional
funds flow to the school to address the need.
Qualified psychologists are scarce and costly. Thisis one of several situations where First Nations
could form a support agency to deliver specialized
services. INAC should share financial support forsuch agencies as a way to ensure equitable access toservices as well as to control costs.
In-service education or professional development
for teachers requires time (often reflected inprofessional development days in union contracts)and methods of using the time effectively (shortcourses, workshops, university programs etc.). In
many cases, First Nation schools cannot afford thetravel expenses associated with these events andbringing experts to the schools can also be very
costly. The Internet can play a significant role. It
should also be possible for First Nation educators
to gain access to professional development offeredby nearby school districts and provincial teachers’organizations.
Creativity is required. One example is a proposal
to cycle retired teachers through on-reserve schools.
Working as volunteers, they would provide teachers
and administrators with a variety of short-term
supports arranged in such a way that every school
would have assistance throughout the school year
(McKerlich 2002).

25

Access to Digital Resources and Services
Every school must have access to high-speed
Internet and every student must have up-todate tools to use it. One-time installation of
network connections is a start. Network upgrades
and maintenance are an ongoing requirement.
Computers and mobile devices also need to be
upgraded and maintained.
Network connectivity opens new horizons toall schools, but is especially valuable for those thatare remote. Every province’s K-12 curriculum
is now online, as is a significant amount of selfassessment material. This enables one properly
trained generalist teacher to support a wide rangeof specialized secondary courses. First Nations’teachers and schools can now organize and deliver
lessons to other schools and distant students. By
doing this, band-operated schools could become
providers of online courses to off-reserve Aboriginal
students. The Internet also opens the expanding
world of online jobs to on-reserve students.
Operations and MaintenanceOperations and maintenance25 is a catch-all
category in school finance accounting. It covers
areas such as insurance, utility costs, minorbuilding maintenance, maintenance of grounds,
snow removal, repairs and renovations, student
transportation and accommodation, teacher
housing, legal and accounting fees, computer
systems and services, and communications costs.
Using a resource-cost approach, existing
spending levels (perhaps using a three-year rolling
average) can form a workable starting point for
funding operations and maintenance. Inevitably,

Commentary 444

there will be exceptions. There is potential for
unpredictable, and possibly large variations arisingfrom unexpected factors (such as an unusually
cold and long winter, sudden increases in costs for
insurance or fuel, a new transmission for a school
bus, a lawsuit or a union grievance).
Unexpected costs are an acute problem forfreestanding individual schools. Their budgets
are too small to create financial reserves or allow
internal re-arrangement of budgets. Since small
freestanding schools have little financial leeway,
INAC needs a contingency management system.
Capital for Education
To indicate the complexity of capital budgeting,
we summarize the recent Parliamentary Budget
Office infrastructure review of BC schools (PBO2013).26 Of 116 BC First Nations’ operated schools,
two-thirds were found to be in “good” or “new”
condition, but 12 were in “poor or worse” condition.
Using several scenarios, the PBO estimatedincremental capital spending over 15 years (2013/14
to 2028/29) that would be required to realize
several goals with respect to school infrastructure.
One scenario assumed that, by 2028/29, the age
distribution of reserve schools would match theage distribution of provincial schools. This scenario
would require an immediate increase of $16 million
in annual capital spending relative to the 2013/14
budget, to $43 million. The annual capital spending
for this scenario tapers to $33 million by 2028/29.
While the proposed immediate increase is morethan 50 percent above 2013/14 levels, this isequivalent to only 6 percent of INAC’s estimatedannual education spending in BC.

25 There is overlap between operations and maintenance and capital spending because spending on repair and renovation
prolongs building life. This overlap is important because local officials will frequently defer maintenance in order to shore
up some other area of the budget, and thereby increase future costs.
26 BC is home to 12 percent of First Nation on-reserve students receiving K-12 instruction.

26

The assumptions underlying the PBO
calculations are complex. They include demographic
projections of K-12 cohorts, estimates of K-12
students studying in provincial schools off-reserve,school capacity utilization rates, maintenance costs
and more. As with estimation of comparable perstudent operations funding, assessing comparable
capital budgeting entails resolving complex issues.27
The need to implement a new capital funding
arrangement through collaboration is obvious, since
only a full and free discussion of what is happening
can yield appropriate funding rules. But, as with
operations and maintenance budgeting, reachinga better set of capital budgeting guidelines will
require expertise, patience and time.

needs in band-operated schools. However, theincidence in BC provincial schools of special needs
among non-Aboriginal students is 5 percent, lessthan half the 11 percent among Aboriginal students(BC 2014,9).
A special-needs student means more
complexities for teachers, for fellow students andfor the child. Proper diagnosis of special needs
and subsequent provision of appropriate services iscostly even in urban school districts where specialist
services are available and can be shared among
schools. For widely scattered and independently
managed on-reserve schools, diagnosis and service
provision are more complex and costly.28 Failure
to provide early assistance, ideally before Grade 1,
often leads to exacerbated social problems when
students reach adulthood. This is yet another hardAdult Education
to-measure consequence of failure to properly fund
Many adults living on-reserve have not completed
education.
secondary education by age 20 (see Figure 1).
Addressing the needs of special-needs children
For them, obtaining high-school equivalency at ashould not be restricted to providing services.
later age is an important step toward employment
Programs aimed at lowering the incidence ofor post-secondary education. School completion
preventable special needs among First Nations’should be encouraged as an effort to compensate for students should be a part of education services. For
poor schooling in the past.
example, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder can destroy
INAC’s policy of mimicking provincial rules forthe future of children who are born with it, yet isadult education excludes many of these adults and is completely preventable. Schools are an important
inappropriate for the situation facing First Nations. place to deal with such a problem since their
Indeed, current adult education requirements, bothstudents may well be sending their children to thein scale and scope, are significantly different onschool within six or seven years.
reserves than for the non-Aboriginal population.
Special Education
We know of no direct measures of special education

27 Integration of capital budgets across INAC programs is an important issue to resolve. At present, INAC reconciles theneeds of all of its capital programs within a single budget item. This is done in consultation with First Nations, which haveto make difficult choices (new school versus safe drinking water).
28 Provision of special education services on-reserve would be facilitated if INAC more closely matched provincial spending
for similar students. When INAC, FNESC and the BC Ministry of Education attempted to define comparable funding forstudents in on-reserve schools, special education was omitted from the “comparability rule” because, as INAC explained, it
did not have the money to change its policy.

27

Commentary 444

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