Parents and students who are concerned about the state of the public education system are right to be worried about Christy Clark’s failure to deliver a plan to fix problems in the education system say New Democrats.
“Christy Clark’s record as education minister is marked with cuts and conflict,” said New Democrat education critic Robin Austin. “Now, after a decade of B.C. Liberal indifference to public education that started with her as minister, we have problems from extreme overcrowding in Surrey to dirty schools in Richmond – and Christy Clark has no plan to address these issues.”
Surrey-Fleetwood MLA Jagrup Brar said the problems facing Surrey students include overcrowded classrooms, overflowing portables and infrastructure that is nearing the end of its life.
“We’ve had to fight the B.C. Liberal government to even get funding for basic things such as fixing the leaky roof at Johnston Heights Secondary,” said Brar. “The B.C. Liberals found six million dollars to pay the legal bills of the criminals convicted in the BC Rail trial while no money was given to Surrey to deal with overflowing schools, and what’s worse is, their new leader, Christy Clark, has refused to address this government’s failed priorities.”
Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains pointed to Earl Marriott Secondary in Surrey, where students are protesting the school district’s decision to extend the school day in order to deal with extreme overcrowding in the school which is a result of the B.C. Liberal government’s failed approach to education. “It should be no mystery that Surrey needs new schools to cope with increasing enrollment, but the B.C. Liberal government has spent money recklessly on pet projects like the B.C. Place roof while failing to provide the Surrey School district with the capital funding it needs to build schools,” said Bains. “Christy Clark hasn’t said a word about dealing with the problems facing Surrey schools and her record as a divisive minister whose decisions led to the kind of class size and composition problems we are seeing in classrooms today, doesn’t leave much hope for students in Surrey, or anywhere else in the province, for that matter,” said Surrey-Whalley MLA Bruce Ralston.
Surrey-Green Timbers MLA Sue Hammell noted that Ms. Clark was also the education minister who brought in the per-pupil funding formula, which is the primary culprit for problems in districts across the province.
“The per-pupil funding formula that was brought in by Christy Clark has been nothing but a nightmare for school districts across the province. It doesn’t work for districts with declining enrollment; it doesn’t work for districts with increasing enrollment; it doesn’t work for anyone except the B.C. Liberals, who get to cut education year after year while telling parents they’re increasing funding,” said Hammell. “It’s a numbers game that has been used to cut more than a billion dollars from our education system.”
British Columbia’s New Democrats believe that we must reduce class sizes, provide support for special needs learners, and create a welcoming school environment that facilitates learning for all students.
– BC NDP caucas
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