2011 budget
Chilliwack Progress: Budget cuts felt in the classroom
May 31, 2011
The touching story of Sebastian White struck a chord with me, and I felt the other side of the story needed to be addressed.
This article discusses how MCFD and Youth Services help and support our youth. What it fails to mention is how the Chilliwack School District would like to provide help and support for these youth. That is because disappointingly, it does not. Last year alone, the Chilliwack School District cut funding from its budget, and that included a large part to alternative education: the kind of program that helped get Sebastian White back on track and back into the regular school system. Educational Assistant positions were cut back on time, with a few jobs being cut entirely. That means less support was provided this year in these alternative programs to help students who struggle academically. In addition, last year funding was cut to food budgets which provide food for youth who may not get much at home, or who are couch surfing without any means of purchasing food for themselves. Read more
2010 budget challenges
Chilliwack SD’s detailed May 6, 2010 Budget Presentation clearly shows how unfunded cost increases have outstripped provincial funding increases, forcing the district to cut teachers and trim spending despite steady increases in student enrolment.
June 2010: Chilliwack board writes Minister to complain about provincial underfunding to blame for local staffing cuts despite growing enrolment. Minority trustees oppose lobbying effort as too much like Vancouver’s “disrespectful” advocacy campaign.
May 2010: Local parent group “Kids Matter” organized a rally on May 20 to protest school cuts. Join them on Facebook at kids_matter or email kids_matter@shaw.ca
April 2010: Local parent group seeking support to plan a rally to fight education cuts in Chilliwack & is inviting all concerned public education advocates to join the effort. Visit the group on Facebook at kids_matter or email kids_matter@shaw.ca
March 2010: Despite a provincial budget that promised more funding than ever, Chilliwack’s projected deficit turns out to be even higher than expected, as yet another School Board learns that the Education Minister’s actions, not her words, are what actually count when it comes to balancing budgets.
In the News
Chilliwack Times: A cyclist with a lesson
Corneila Naylor, The Times
August 6, 2010
Nearing the end of a 3,000-kilometre bike-a-thon that started in Prince Rupert on Canada Day, Tulani Ackerman was in town Thursday, talking to people, taking down ideas and filming interviews for a potential documentary.
By the time she ends her 43-day trek at the provincial legislature in Victoria Aug.12, Ackerman will have stopped in more than 35 communities to ask people what they think is working in B.C.’s school system and what isn’t.
So far her voyage of discovery–which has taken her over three mountain ranges–has turned up a lot of public discontent. Read more
Chilliwack Times: His numbers are still wrong
July 23, 2010
Dawn Steele, BC Education Coalition
Professor Lal Sharma gives our analysis of B.C. education funding a failing grade, claiming that B.C.’s total education funding for 2010-11 is actually $5.6 billion, not $5.1 billion as we reported.
The B.C. Ministry of Education’s 2010-11 service plan (conveniently posted on its website at www.gov.bc.ca/bced confirms that our budget numbers are correct. B.C.’s total budget for education programs for 2010-11 is $5.1 billion and the total ministry budget, including public libraries, is $5.16 billion. Of that total, $4.66 billion is allocated to operate public schools.
Sharma notes that the provincial government increased education funding by $112 million for 2010. However, education costs (most mandated or controlled by the province) will rise by almost three times that much, the B.C. Association of School Business Officials has estimated. Additionally, the education ministry projects that province wide enrolment will increase in 2010. This explains why even districts with growing enrolment faced budget deficits in 2010 and were therefore forced to cut services.
Sharma also claims that per-student funding now exceeds $10,000 yearly. Again, this is not consistent with the B.C. Education Ministry’s own calculations, which estimate average per student funding for 2010-11 is $8,301, as we had indicated. Read more
Chilliwack Times: School system gets a failing grade
July 20, 2010
Dr Lal Sharma
Dawn Steele of the so-called B.C. Education Coalition has asked, “where has he [Lal Sharma] been?”As a former professor of education who has been there and done that, I’m compelled to give Ms. Steele a poor grade, with explanations:
First, the total funding for 2010-2011 is over $ 5.6 billion (with a B) not $ 5.1 billion as she reports. But then, what’s upward of half a billion dollars amongst friends. It’s worth stressing that the operating funding for education does include an increase of $112 million.
That pushes up the total expenditure per student to over $10,000 yearly. At this rate, it’ll cost well over $100,000 to carry each child from K-12. Wow, that’s a lot of money, demolishing “the underfunding myth.” Read more
Chilliwack Times: We’re spending less on schools
July 9, 2010
Dawn Steele, Letter to the Editor
University professor Dr. Lal Sharma is astonished that it costs $200,000 a year to educate an average class of 25 K-12 students in B.C. today.
Where has he been? University costs are now $25,000 a year–per student. The average Harvard university professor today earns over $200,000. Adjusted for inflation, $200,000 in 2010 buys the equivalent of $27,000 in 1960. I wonder if he has seen the price of gas lately or the price of a coffee.
Does he realize he can’t fill his tank for $10 any more and a coffee is not a nickel? Although B.C. does have the lowest minimum wage in Canada that has not been raised since 2001, we are still making a lot more than our post-war parents.
In real dollars, B.C. is actually spending less on K-12 education today than a decade ago, any way you look at it.
Adjusted for inflation, B.C.’s 2010-11 education budget of $5.1 billion is around $500 million less than the last NDP budget for education in 2000.
In 1991, 26 per cent of B.C.’s provincial budget went to education. Under both the NDP and the B.C. Liberals, that share steadily declined to 14 per cent today. Read more
Chilliwack Times: There should be outrage over spending
Dr Lal Sharma
July 9, 2010
Here we go again. Provincial testing (FSA) results are in and the news is not good. This district has been left behind–again. Students continue to struggle with the basics where barely half of those who wrote the tests, made it.
The seventh graders in particular did very poorly. In fact, most failed math. Read more
Editor’s Note: Here is a link to the actual FSA results for Chilliwack, which show that a significant number of students did not write the FSAs, and whose outcomes are therefore classified as “unknown.” Dr Sharma’s outrage assumes that all students with “unknown” outcomes are failing. If you average just the known outcomes for students who took the tests, the lowest average was for Grade 7 math, where only 61% met or exceeded expectations (i.e. passed). While troubling, it’s not accurate to state, as Sharma does, that “most failed math” or that “barely half of those who wrote the tests, made it.” The following are the average pass rates among students who wrote the tests.
Grade 4: Writing: 87% , Reading: 81%, Numeracy: 78%
Grade 7: Writing: 75%, Reading: 71%; Numeracy: 61%
A closer look shows poor outcomes are focussed among Grade 7 Aboriginal, ESL and Special Needs students. Excluding those groups, pass rates for Grade 7s rise to 78% in Reading and 69% in Numeracy. Average pass rates among Aboriginal, ESL and Special Needs students who wrote the tests were 37% for math and just 50% in reading. ESL and Aboriginal Grade 7 students in particular appear to be struggling, with lower pass rates than students with special needs.
Cautions include the need to explore why so many students have unknown results and whether FSA results are consistent with other assessments or indicative of students not taking the tests seriously (which is common, especially among older students, once word gets out that the marks ”don’t count.” )
Chilliwack Times: Education money is wasted
Dr Lal Sharma
June 22, 2010
Let’s first look at the numbers: At over $8,000 per student yearly, education funding comes to a whopping $200,000 per year for an average class of 25 students. This is a ton of money to do the job, but less than half the funds are actually reaching the regular classroom.
So what’s really being done with all those billions? Unfortunately, most people do not have a good grasp on either the economics or the performance of our education system. No wonder the public ranks inadequate funding among the most important problems facing our schools.
The fact is that the system is grossly mismanaged and fiscally wasteful. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: School trustees lobby for students
Katie Bartel, Chilliwack Progress
June 23, 2010
Asking the B.C. government for more funding to run Chilliwack schools isn’t about asking for unnecessary handouts, it’s about advocating for student needs, says school trustee John Henry Harter.
On Tuesday, in a school board meeting that at times felt more like a schoolyard brawl than a professional meeting, the Chilliwack board of education narrowly passed a motion to send a letter to the Minister of Education, to protest the lack of proper funding for public education and request an immediate increase to per student funding. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: Bus fees put burden on parents
June 22, 2010
Letter to the Editor
I received the school district’s bus transportation invoice for $200 per child to a maximum of $600 per family for the 2010-2011 school year. I am upset about this as are many parents in the Chilliwack district.
I compare it to getting an invoice from a utility company and having them say, “oops, we didn’t budget correctly, you now owe us 600 per cent more on your bill.” Would there not be more of a public outcry?
What happened to education being free? With all the costs we’re paying already for field trips, school projects and other misc items, (not including our school tax on our annual property tax) we are faced with yet another bill of $200 to $600 for parents to pay out. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: Parent rallying support for failing school system
Cornelia Naylor, The Times
May 18, 2010
“I would just love to hear from them how they think these policies benefit my kids and the community’s kids,” said Bukowsky. “I would like for them to speak the truth to me, not ministry mantra.”
Bukowsky invited the two Liberal MLAs to an education rally he has organized for this Thursday, May 20 at Tzeachten Hall. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: Chilliwack school board postpones budget vote
May 11, 2010
Katie Bartel – Chilliwack Progress
The Chilliwack school district’s adoption of the 2010-11 budget was postponed at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
Because trustees Heather Maahs and Martha Wiens opposed three readings of the 2010-11 annual budget bylaw, the motion to adopt the budget could not be voted on. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: School funding prompts parent protest
Katie Bartel – Chilliwack Progress
May 7, 2010
Parent Chris Bukowsky is holding the provincial government’s feet to the fire and he hopes to inspire other parents to do the same.
Bukowsky is organizing a Kids Matter Rally for Education on May 20 at Tzeachten Hall.
“I’m tired of the lies,” said Bukowsky, who has a daughter in Grade 11 at G.W. Graham and a son who recently graduated. “The government says they’ve increased funding [for education] but when you really look at it, and you factor in inflation and increases to teacher contracts, and hydro, and everything else, the system is actually being underfunded.” Read more
Chilliwack Progress: Better funding for public education needed
May 4, 2010
Catherine Evans – letter to the editor
The B.C. Society for Public Education recently commissioned a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion to find out what people think about public school funding.
Eighty-one per cent said that the provincial government is not doing enough to protect public education, while 79 per cent said that the government should increase funding to public schools.
Our public schools matter. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: Time to reject political ‘elites’
April 26, 2010
Chris Bukowsky – Letter to the editor
I am a local parent who says enough of our elitist politicians.
Those who take Leer jets, helijets and ride BC Ferries for free while our school districts go through another year of devastating under funding. Politicians who vote themselves 53 per cent and 29 per cent pay increases, a pension after six years and take free Olympic tickets.
I want to gather all stakeholders in education for a giant rally in Chilliwack. Read more
Chilliwack Progress: School district consolidates administrative duties
By Katie Bartel
April 16, 2010
Chilliwack school district will be expanding the shared administrative model that’s been working in Rosedale for the past year.
In an effort to cut costs, the district will be combining several schools under one administrative umbrella with principals and vice principals sharing duties, starting in September. Read article
Chilliwack Progress: Chilliwack schools consider cutting 61 jobs
April 16, 2010
Katie Bartel – Chilliwack Progress
Sixty-one jobs face elimination as the Chilliwack school district tries to reign in a nearly $5 million deficit.
At Thursday afternoon’s public budget forum, district officials laid out its proposed staffing changes which include cutting 24.1 teachers, 16.7 educational assistants, 14.9 other support staff, 0.75 principals and vice principals, one director of instruction, 0.25 senior executives, and 3.6 management positions.
The downsizing would save the district $3.25 million. Read article
Chilliwack Progress: Proposal to scrap school district retirement parties denied
April 14, 2010
By Katie Bartel – Chilliwack Progress
A proposed motion to scrap the school district’s only form of employee recognition was blasted by most school trustees at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Trustee Heather Maahs floated the idea of eliminating the school district’s retirement recognition policy in its current form as a way of refilling the district’s depleted coffers.
For 20 years, the district has honoured retiring employees, including administrators, teachers and support staff, with a retirement tea party at Minter Gardens, and with gifts of engraved watches and wall clocks. Read article
Chilliwack Progress: More means less for school district
March 22, 2010
By Katie Bartel – Chilliwack Progress
Despite getting more money than last year from the provincial government, Chilliwack school district will have less money to spend in its 2010-11 budget.
The B.C. Education Ministry has allocated $99.6 million to the school district’s operating grant; an increase of $1.2 million from last year. Part of that funding includes $1.26 million for teacher salary increases, and $1.75 million for full-day kindergarten funding.
But because the ministry has changed the way school districts can spend the money, it’s going to end up costing Chilliwack more money.
The district is now projecting a $5 million shortfall, up from the $4.7 million it had initially anticipated. Read article
Chilliwack Progress: Looking for budget ideas
March 23, 2010
By Greg Knill – Chilliwack Progress
Stop us if you’ve heard this before.
The government trumpets increased funding for a specific program. But when the numbers are crunched, the program ends up with less than it had before.
That’s the situation the Chilliwack School District is finding itself in. After an increase in per student funding, the district is still short about $5 million for the 2010-11 school year. (See story, page 3.)
Chilliwack is not alone in this new “funding increase” reality. Some school districts are facing even higher deficits – deficits school districts can’t, by law, incur.
That’s left Chilliwack trustees and school administrators facing the unpleasant task of wringing another $5 million from a budget dominated by fixed costs. Read article
Chilliwack Times: School cuts start at the top
February 23, 2010
Cornelia Naylor – The Times
The Chilliwack school district is slashing more than seven management positions next year in a bid to save almost half a million dollars.
The move was one of several restructuring changes announced last Tuesday at the district’s second public budget forum.
“We said we would start at the top,” said district superintendent Corinne McCabe after announcing the 7.6 full time equivalent (FTE) cuts. “We said we would look at our own work first. The next piece will be to have all our principals in schools look at their staff.” Read the story
Contact Chilliwack MLAs
MLA John Les, Chilliwack (BC Liberal)
- Email: john.les.mla@leg.bc.ca
- Constituency office: 1 – 45953 Airport Rd, Chilliwack, V2P 1A3, Telephone: 604 702-5214
MLA Barry Penner, Chilliwack-Hope (BC Liberal)
- Email: barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca
- Constituency office: 101 – 7388 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack, V2R 4E4, Telephone: 604 858-6202
