Will School Boards Be Left Irrelevant?

The battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of parents, school children and tax payers has commenced, as the province’s teacher’s union launch their public relations forces to counter potential changes to the education system of the province. In a follow up to past Podunkian postings into the issue, we once again find the story popping up on the front pages.

BCTF Jinny Sims is leading the charge for the teacher’s union, finding much to worry about in a program that hasn’t, as of yet been publicly announced by the government. No stranger to controversy with the government, Sims offers up an ominous warning that if the program (whatever it may look like) is implemented, then the teachers will have no part of it. This would make for an interesting stand off in a province, which has seen more than its fair share of stare downs over the last few years.

In a Daily News front page article, Sims paints a rather grim picture for education in British Columbia under the so far kept under wraps program. Suggesting that the project is just a continuation of the Deputy Education ministers plans from Alberta, which the union says failed miserably, Sims seems to have decided that this will be the BCTF’s Rubicon as it head towards the September showdown with the government, a replay of last years labour disruption.

So far, we’ve only received one side of this story, which of course could be subject to some dis-information from the union perspective, to make their positions more amenable to the public. Until the government takes away its veil of secrecy and reveals its plans for education the issue will continue to fester and cause un-warranted worry for parents, teachers and most importantly students. The sooner the government shares its plans with us all, the better, when you don’t have the facts all that is left is conjecture, a situation that does nothing to soothe the seemingly constantly troubled education system.

For full information on the union’s stand on the issue, we provide our Podunkicized version of the Daily news story!

TEACHERS’ UNION FEARS END OF SCHOOL BOARDS
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Page One

Contrary to Education Minister Shirley Bond’s spin, the government is clearly investigating a new “corporate model” for public education that will leave individual schools accountable for the province’s underfunding and make school boards largely irrelevant, says BCTF President Jinny Sims.

”Every system where they have tried this has failed,” said Sims in a telephone interview with The Daily News while in Edmonton on Friday. “And I think its districts like yours that will suffer.”

The plan, called “School Based Management,” is a variant on what Deputy Education Minister Emery Dosdall tried, to mixed reviews, in Edmonton and similar to failed systems in New Zealand and England, she said.

“Listening to the legacy that Emery has left here, you don’t have too many happy people,” said Sims.

“It sounds seductive but do individual school principals know the need of a community?” It’s another way of downloading accountability.”

In essence, the new system, which will be piloted by a handful of school districts in the province, would see principals and parents- through school planning councils – receive funds on a per student basis and then make all the decisions on how the money is spent in a school. Individual schools, and districts, could then contract-out various services, such as those performed by support staff.

“I fear this is similar to what was done with health care and contracting out,” she said, “but it’s more. It’s saying that we’re not going to give schools enough money and we’ve found a way to make that the responsibility of the principal and the parent’s”

Even if adequate funds were put in place to address the serious class size and composition issues that teachers have been fighting the province about, Sims would not support the plan.

“They’re saying two parents hand picked by a principal – and they are usually hand picked – can make decisions for a whole school and a whole community,” she said. “Do they really want parents deciding between learning assistance and replacing the carpet?”

These decisions are currently made by democratically-elected school trustees. Bond has repeatedly said there is no plan at this time to do away with school boards, “however there are plans to have them “re-purposed”, an idea that has yet to be fleshed out, at least publicly.

“My whole impression is that they want to do away with school boards and they’re doing it in stages,” said Sims. “If (school boards) have no role in setting education policy and no role in budgeting, why do we have them there?”

Sims also questions why, if the government isn’t up to something, did they have to learn about the idea after a session was held with administrators and not at the Learning Roundtable where ideas about education are supposed to be shared among equals. Actions like these make it very hard for teachers and parents to trust the government, she said.

She also warns that if the province forges ahead with this new system of running schools, teachers will have no part of it.

“They’re moving towards the business model, they’re moving towards the corporate model and it won’t work.” Said Sims, adding that if principals are doing the school board’s job then someone will have to do the principal’s, taking more funds away from kids and giving the money to administrators.

“Student’s have emotional needs, physiological needs…. And this model won’t address them.

“They always talk about decentralization, but if the control is centralized it’s just the accountability they’re passing on.”

Education Minister Shirley Bond did not return calls for comment.