Continuity of funding is essential to ensure continuity of the high-quality educational services that parents and the public have come to expect from British Columbia's public schools. This funding could be used to hire more than 3,200 additional teachers to meet the educational needs of students in British Columbia. These cuts to education funding have occurred during a period when more and more students need specialized educational services, when more students have English as their second language, when more students are identified as having special needs, and when additional pressures have been placed on teachers to revise methods and curriculum. Average elementary class size has grown from 22.6 to 23.4. Comparable numbers are not available for the secondary system.
Districts allocate almost half of administrative officers' time to instruction.
It is unclear how much of this is identified incorrectly. There are serious cost implications. As a new ESL service delivery policy is expected shortly, there should be a moratorium on changes to the ESL funding formula. A detailed examination of the formula should take place over the next year. The provincial agreement bears the stamp of the Legislature of the province of British Columbia.