Fewer students, but schools do more than ever
The Daily Courier (Kelowna)
November 17, 2006
Opinion -- By: Tom Wilson

EXCERPT

British Columbia's public school system has 37,000 fewer students than it did five years ago.

School boards grapple with questions of whether to close under-populated schools and how to make up lost revenue now that school fees are illegal. We have fewer students in our schools, but the cost of educating them continues to increase.

Education Minister Shirley Bond told us that "hundreds of millions of dollars" will be added to the system in the next few years, but that money is to pay for teachers' settlements, not make up for the missing school fees.

Surely, Shirley, that's not where all the money is going. Schools are relied upon to feed students, counsel those with behavioural problems, provide daycare for teenage parents and, oh, yeah, give them a well-rounded, stimulating education that prepares them for post-secondary learning and work...

But schools have evolved into all-encompassing neighbourhood centres for a reason: they are needed.

Families are more fractured and scattered than they were a generation ago. Where people once relied on their neighbour, employer or a church for support in times of need, today it's the school that nurtures and monitors. If schools were to suddenly downsize and revert back to the days when all that happened in the classroom was to learn the "three Rs" and maybe some history, parents wouldn't be pleased.

Some would not be able to handle the change and the increased demands on them to supplement their child's education....

While the student population is shrinking, the demands on educators have never been greater. Bond's "congresses" with parents, students and teachers must find a way to deliver essential literacy and numeracy skills. It must do so while also supporting the crucial social role of neighbourhood schools.