Education spending hits $740 million
Additional funding needed to cover teachers’ Supreme Court court win costs, rising enrolments
Trustees, parents and teachers said they’re happy to hear that education will get $740 million over the next three years, but they’re concerned the money may fall short in key areas.
While Finance Minister Mike de Jong said if he had to pick one government service that is the most important, it would be education, some wondered why school districts had to cut their budgets in previous years.
“Education opens our minds. It expands our immediate world into the endless array of ideas the world has to offer,” de Jong said. “And, of course, it opens the door to a wealth of opportunities that can lead students to a bright future.”
But Glen Hansman, B.C. Teachers Federation president, called the budget “an admission that when it comes to education funding, the government has had it wrong all along. Fifteen years ago, they put tax cuts before kids. Students, parents, teachers and support staff were forced to pay the price.”
Parent Andrea Sinclair said the Liberals have been pressured for many months by parents, advocacy groups, teachers and even its own select standing budget committee to provide more funding for public education.
“It’s clear they are only doing what they should’ve been doing all this time in order to shore up their voting constituents,” Sinclair said in an email.
B.C. School Trustees Association president Teresa Rezansoff said she is “pleased to see the government has recognized the need for significant further investments in public education.”
Both Hansman and Sinclair noted that rising operating costs for expenses like B.C. Hydro and Medical Services Premiums haven’t been covered, which has meant school boards have had to cut their budgets in the past number of years.
The budget, announced Tuesday, cuts MSP premiums in half for families earning less than $120,000 and reduces the provincial sales tax on electricity, two moves that should mean some relief for school boards, which Hansman said could still face uncertainty when setting their budgets this spring.
Included in the $740-million budget increase is $320 million to continue the half-year, $50-million interim agreement with the BCTF to implement the teachers’ Supreme Court win. Hansman has estimated the full cost of restoring deleted clauses that include rules about class size, class composition and specialist teachers would be $300 million a year, on top of what’s already in the budget. Hansman said Tuesday a deal could be announced in the next week and a half.
When that happens, the rest of the funding, if required, will come from contingency funds, de Jong said, adding that it would be inappropriate to specify an amount while negotiations are still ongoing.
After two decades of declining enrolment, the number of children in B.C. schools has slowly started to creep up. The budget includes $228 million over three years to pay for more students and $44 million for salary increases.
It also continues funding to eliminate school-bus fees and to keep some rural schools open, with the possibility that more rural schools will qualify for funding in future.
Hansman said those changes could be hints of a new funding formula that might change the current per-pupil model.
Overall, the education budget increases to $5.9 billion for the year, up from $5.6 billion this year and including $5.3 billion for public schools and $383 million for private or independent schools.
There is $2 billion in capital funding in the next three years, with much of this allocated to projects that are already announced.
Post-secondary education also got a boost in the budget, with the interest rate on student loans reduced to the prime rate, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Today, interest on student loans is prime plus 2.7 per cent.