PARENTS WEAR RED TO PROTEST STATE OF FUNDING FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION 
Parent Advocacy Network and Families Against Cuts to Education Respond to BC Budget 2016

VANCOUVER -- Thursday, May 19, marks the end of the current Legislative session and the passing of the BC Liberal government’s balanced budget. Sadly, while BC may be in the black, public education is surely in the red. As part of a joint FACE-PAN campaign — #bcedinred — FACE has been tracking school district budget shortfalls. As of Wednesday, May 18, half of the 60 School Boards had reported operating budget shortfalls with a combined total of $84.17 million.

The BC public education system has seen a long history of adverse policies and chronic structural underfunding which has crippled the public system forcing school boards to cut programming, support staff, resource workers, counselors, specialist teachers, librarians, maintenance, resources and supplies while increasing class sizes and closing schools.

“Every year, structural underfunding forces students, schools and communities across BC to compete for increasingly scarce dollars. It forces school boards to make impossible choices over which vital program to save or to cut, and it forces PACs to fundraise inordinate amounts of money to compensate for these losses, creating inequality between schools,” said Jennifer Stewart, parent and co-founder of FACE.

BC school boards are required by law to balance their budgets; they must find ways to cover the shortfalls. This means programs, services, and school closures are on the chopping block throughout the 60 school districts. The collateral damage to-date is dire and continues to expand: Osoyoos has seen its only high school closed; Quesnel has closed three schools and still need to make cuts; parents in Courtenay fought successfully to save Ecole Puntledge Park, but the district must still make cuts to cover its shortfall; school buses are being cut in Maple Ridge; Vancouver Trustees refused to pass a budget containing $24 million in cuts; and Saanich has also balked at making cuts.

“Over the last decade, parents have seen a relentless depletion of services within our schools, resulting in the loss of teachers, counselors, specialists, learning supports, librarians, arts programs, and basic educational resources” said Andrea Sinclair, parent and co-founder of PAN.

Parents know these cuts cannot be dismissed as “local decisions”; they are the result of decisions made at the provincial level. The government decided to increase public school operational funding by less than 1% in Budget 2016 — this does not even cover inflation. It also doesn’t cover spending decisions made at the provincial level, such as construction of the Next Generation Network. These costs are downloaded onto the Boards, who must find a way to cover them without any additional funding.

The 2016/17 BC budget indicates that we live in a province of relative prosperity. Unfortunately, public education is not being funded accordingly, much to the detriment of our future society. PAN and FACE believe that a high-quality public education system is the cornerstone of a democratic society. We cannot condone a budget that is balanced on the backs of children in public schools. 

On Thursday, May 19, we encourage all citizens across BC to join us in wearing RED to mark the fact that, although the BC budget is in the black, public education is in the red.

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Supporting Resources
#BCEDINRED - http://www.panvancouver.ca/bcedinred.html  https://facebc.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/bcedinred/
 http://www.panvancouver.ca   https://facebc.wordpress.com/
 PAN Vancouver@PAN_Vancouver    @FACE_BC
 www.facebook.com/PANVancouver     www.facebook.com/FACEVancouver
 parentadvocacynetwork@gmail.com
 
About the Parent Advocacy Network
The Parent Advocacy Network for Public Education (PAN), formed in 2015, is a grassroots collective of parents and community members who want to address the chronic underfunding and cuts to education services in Vancouver and across British Columbia. Our mission is to create a strong network of parents across schools and to support one another in advocacy. Our network enables us to share information and experiences, and to stand together in protecting public education.

About Families Against Cuts to Education
Parents and citizens who care about public education came together in 2015 to form Families Against Cuts to Education (FACE). We believe public education needs to be a priority again, that public education is more important than politics, that a strong public education system benefits us all, and that all children must be able to benefit from high quality public education.

Media Contacts
For PAN - Andrea Sinclair, 604-240-9834, andreasinclair@gmail.com
For FACE - Jennifer Stewart, 604-790-9929, jenniferjoanstewart@gmail.com
© 2016 Parent Advocacy Network for Public Education. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL VANCOUVER PARENTS
April 11: VSB just added a third evening of public consultations. Wednesday, April 13 7-11pm at the VSB Board Office, 1580 W. Broadway
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April 10: updated to included revised budget proposals and public consultation information.

Please read and share widely & quickly through your networks so we reach as many parents as possible.

Parents need to stand up and demonstrate wide public concern about the VSB budget to help pressure the Government.

We strongly encourage all PACs to register (via email to budget2016-2017@vsb.bc.ca) and send at least 1 person to present at a VSB Public Budget Consultation. Please send as many parents as possible to attend.

Currently the sessions on April 12 and April 14 are full but VSB is extending the time to 10:30pm and may be adding a third session on April 13 (VSB will announce via social media on Monday). The need for more sessions means .... the parents are speaking out!

Background
The Vancouver School Board was facing a budget shortfall of $27.26 million dollars. The April 4 funding announcement by the Ministry of Education and the fact that no students are registered to attend Henderson Annex this fall have reduced this by $3.2 million to just over $24 million –  this is still the worst projected shortfall since 2002.

The School Act prohibits a School Board from presenting an unbalanced budget so many cuts have been proposed.

The Proposed Budget
The proposed cuts — HUGE, highly detrimental and long-lasting to services for our children, which we may never get back — will have SIGNIFICANT impact to ALL children across this district.

They will affect every family and the effects of the cuts will be felt for years to come.

The CUTS include:

• The entire optional elementary band and strings program. This affects 44 elementary schools.
• 5 FTE (full-time equivalent) elementary staff in ELL, special education, aboriginal and library (was to be 11.36 FTE). This means some ELL, special education and aboriginal students may get a lower level of support than they do currently. It also may mean some schools will not have specialized school librarians next year.
• The loss of 5 FTE Special Education Support Workers (SSAs) (was to be 12 FTE) across the district.
• The elimination of the special education staffing at Templeton and Kitsilano Secondary Schools reducing their ability to provide adapted programs for those who need more intensive support.
• A third of the Enhanced Services Literacy Teachers who provide additional intensive interventions to small groups of students at "inner city" schools (was to be all 12 FTE ).
• 22 FTE secondary teachers by removing the class size limit of 30 students in secondary school classes (was to be 33 FTE).
• ALL teacher mentor positions for anti-racism/anti-homophobia, gifted, teacher-librarian, learning technology, literacy/early intervention consultants, peer to peer and support staff.
• Reduction in support for Braille , modern languages and early intervention.
• Vision and Hearing teacher positions reduced.
• ALL 10 Career Information Assistants gone from secondary schools to be replaced with a single district person. 
• Reduction of administrative support for mini schools impacting programming and class sizes.
• Elimination of the Gifted Program's mentorship and seminar programs as well as the part-time gifted educational psychologist position. The Challenge program had also been selected but was removed in the revised proposal.
• Home instruction teachers that serve home bound students reduced by a third.
• Home Learners Program teaching staff reduced to a single FTE.
• 2 FTE multicultural liaison workers for South Asian, Korean and Vietnamese cultural groups eliminated.

In the original proposed budget but saved in the revised proposal:

• Athletic Coordinator facilitating inter-school sports events across district.
• Fine Arts Coordinator for facilitating visual and performing arts programs.
• SACY Youth Engagement Worker for at risk students in secondary schools.

Our Ask
The public have been invited to give feedback to the VSB regarding this proposed budget on April 12 at 7pm at Van Tech Secondary School and April 14th at 5pm at the VSB Offices on West Broadway.  

We ask parents and strongly urge each and every school/PAC to send at LEAST one representative to express concerns and indicate how these budget cuts will directly affect children in their school.

If you are unsure how your school or your child(ren) will be affected, ask your administrator who will easily be able to tell you.

PLEASE REGISTER ASAP - via email at budget2016-2017@vsb.bc.ca. The April 12 and 14 public sessions are currently full but they have extended the time and will add another session on April 13 if needed. 

Your "speech" need only be one or two minutes. What is most important is showing wide public concern about the contents of this budget to put pressure on the Government.

PLEASE EVERYONE ACT NOW AND PLAN TO ATTEND ON APRIL 12 @ 7:00pm, AND/OR APRIL 14 @ 5:00pm​

More Information
VSB 2016/17 budget process and timeline
Updated preliminary budget proposals 

Feb 24 - PAN/PENS Public Education Panel (click for a flier)

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION in BC?

To RSVP and reserve child minding

 When:          Wednesday, February 24, 2016 from 7:00 - 8:30pm 
 Where:         Bayview Elementary - 2251 Collingwood St., Vancouver (in the gym)

Government policies and funding decisions are dismantling the democratic foundations of public education, undermining social equality and increasing pressures to compensate through fundraising and corporate sponsorship. Most recently, the ministry of education is pressuring the VSB to achieve 95 percent capacity in order to secure seismic funding.  What does this mean for the future of public education in BC?  What can we do to help return public education back to its core communal values?

Come with your questions and concerns and join us for a panel presentation and discussion with the Public Education Network Society (PENS) and the Parent Advocacy Network for Public Education (PAN). Find out how you can make a difference in simple but effective ways.

PENS is an influential advocacy movement that launched the Charter for Public Education and has united stakeholders from across the educational landscape in advocating for public education for over a decade. 

PAN is a grassroots collective of parents from across Vancouver schools who share a commitment to public education. Their mission is to connect parents and PACs across the district to support one another in advocacy.

Our Panelists:
William Bruneau is Professor Emeritus at UBC who writes widely on musical, cultural and political matters. Was an elected VSB Trustee between 1990-1993.
“​What's Really Essential in BC Public Education? Coming to Terms with Curriculum, Teaching, and Governance.”

John Malcolmson has been a researcher for CUPE for over 30 years, with a focus on public education and finance, justice issues and social policy analysis. 
"Changes in Government Funding Policies: How they undermined both Quality and Equality"

Maggie Milne Martens a parent of 3 children in Vancouver, an art educator and art historian.  She is a founding member of the Parent Advocacy Network. 
“Administrative efficiencies, low hanging fruit, and other myths: Restoring a vision of quality Public Education for ALL children.”
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Moderator: Helesia Luke

Please RSVP for the event!
Childminding is provided (free) but registration is required by Feb 22nd.

(Not a PAN event)

Saturday, April 2
​Equitable Access to Education
Keynote: Advocating for the Advocate with Birgitta von Krosigk