August 22nd, 2015
Hon. Mike Bernier
Minister of Education
Via email: [email protected]
Dear Hon. Bernier:
By way of introduction, my name is Michael Nedelec and
I am the PAC Chair at General Wolfe Elementary School. I have
two children, entering grade four and kindergarten respectively in
September 2015. I think my wife and I reflect the Wolfe community
at large, as passionate supporters of public education in British
Columbia and as taxpayers who fear the continual erosion of funding
for our most valuable of institutions.
A sincere congratulations to you on being appointed to Minister
of Education. We look forward to your “fresh pair of eyes and open
mind” in your new position and hope that you will take the time to
personally respond to this letter. We submitted a copy of this
letter (contents below) to Mr. Fassbender five months ago and even
after re-sending the letter four times, it was disappointing that
we did not receive a response. We hope that you can take action
where your predecessor was unable to, by first responding to this
letter.
Recently our PAC surveyed our parent community to ensure we are
channeling our fund-raising efforts to reflect the
broader desires of the parent community and not just the passionate
core who come out to PAC meetings. Parents responded that
PAC fund-raising dollars should enhance the school
experiences, not be the sole funding mechanism. For example,
parents answered "yes" to funds spent on enhanced music programs,
"yes" to field trips, "yes" to special performances and guest
speakers. However, in areas such as physical education
equipment and programs, library books, and most importantly,
technology - parents voiced a strong opinion that this is at the
core of education and should not be part of a PAC-funded
solution.
In a recent article in the Tyee, the PAC Chair from Maple
Grove Elementary expressed a similar viewpoint.
"Looking at district budgets, Monica Tang determined that after
those costs were covered, Maple Grove received about $58.05 per
student this year. That covers other expenses such as photocopying,
technology, books, and furniture. The district couldn't confirm
this number by deadline. "I always assumed that
PAC fund-raising was for the extras, the sprinkles and
the icing on the cake. And I feel like that's not the case now,"
said Tang, whose two daughters, seven and nine, attend Maple Grove.
"It's not for the cake, it's for the bread" were her words.
This brings me to my reason for writing. Our school
community is very concerned about the erosion of public school
funding. We believe that some of the problem is due to increased
government funding of private school education. An analysis done by
the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation indicates that over the
past 10 years, funding for public education has risen 16.9% whereas
it has jumped over 45% for “independent” schools. Even allowing for
enrolment shifts, the disparity is alarming.
We echo the feeling of the PAC Chair at Maple Grove Elementary
in that $58 per child for funding under the discretion and control
of the school principal is appalling and embarrassing for our
school district and province.
Our school community has raised in excess of $40,000 annually
for the past several years to provide what we consider core
educational components for our children. That works out to
approximately $100 per child or 72% more funding than that provided
by the government. We are fortunate that General Wolfe has a
generous and engaged community to allow for this level of
fundraising. And yet, we still fall below the level of fundraising
that many Vancouver schools achieve - and equally there are schools
which could not imagine securing this level of fundraising. This is
compounding an already serious issue of “have and have not” schools
within the district.
Another major cause of concern is the lack of computer and
technology for elementary kids in British Columbia and specifically
at General Wolfe. A quick Google search yields
dozens of boards in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario
that are funding laptop, tablet, high speed
broadband Internet access, coding education, STEM
programs and software program purchases especially targeted to
intermediate elementary children. In 2015, this isn't "icing
on the cake" - it is a critical part of a young mind's education.
However, we do not have any evidence of a strategic plan or buying
program that has been developed for the province. Wouldn’t it make
sense for the province to source the technology approved in
relation to a strategic plan instead of each school working
independently with very little support in the areas of software,
hardware and infrastructure?
Hon. Bernier, we are looking for a response from you with
concrete a plan and timeline to address these issues. In every
public comment, you maintain that it is time to put the children
first. In all honesty, at $60 per child per year, can you
state this with conviction? When will funding levels at
Vancouver schools reach a respectable and necessary level? The
answer is not simply that this is the responsibility of the VSB.
Really, do they have the funds to fix this problem? I think it is
time for the Ministry of Education to offer broad-based financial
solutions to the VSB. The current lack of spirit and cooperation at
VSB is a topic for another day’s discussion.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Michael Nedelec
PAC Chair, General Wolfe Elementary School
Copy to:
Susan Nichols, Principal General Wolfe Elementary
Janet Fraser, Vice Chairperson, Vancouver Board of Education
Brian Kuhn, Chief Information Officer, VSB
