Education-advocacy group responds to comptroller general's report on Vancouver school board
By Charlie Smith
Georgia Straight
June 5, 2010

The B.C. Education Coalition has posted a detailed rebuttal to a critical report by provincial comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland about the Vancouver school board….

In the response by the B.C. Education Coalition, Vancouver parent Dawn Steele wrote that the funding shortfall will result in the loss of most or all of the board's programs in elementary band, special education, and supports for aboriginal, immigrant, and ESL students.

"The Comptroller General has endorsed the Minister's view that the appropriate role of elected trustees is to implement school budget cuts without complaint and without raising concerns about impacts on student achievement," Steele noted.

She also wrote that Wenezenki-Yolland's terms of reference excluded any consideration of the adequacy of provincial funding in light of provincially-imposed cost increases.

This has been a hot issue across the Lower Mainland.

Steele pointed out that "nowhere does the Special Adviser's 94-page report examine the impact on students and their educational achievement of Vancouver's planned $16 million in cuts for next year".

"The report also faults trustees for too little long-term planning and not closing under-utilized schools, which may be a fair criticism of past boards," Steele noted. "But the fine print shows the current board is already engaged in serious efforts on both counts, so the headline accusations are hardly fair."….

The B.C. Education Coalition