What the VSB report said - and didn't say
Vancouver Sun
June 14, 2010
By NOEL HERRON, Former VSB trustee, Vancouver

Re: Report augurs change for school boards, June 7

The controversial 88-page report on the Vancouver board of education by B.C.'s comptroller-general, Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland, contains this telling line: "Specifically excluded from the scope of our work was the structure of the provincial funding model for education." By failing to address the central concern of our public school system, this report simply gives Victoria a finger-pointing platform from which to excoriate an activist board.

Any changes to school board structure in this province must be respectful of local governance and participatory democracy. Thus, Wenezenki-Yolland's criticism of the board's committee structure and, specifically, its advocacy committee, is not only off-base but an ill-disguised attempt to suppress criticism and to silence the province's most outspoken board.

Since coming to power in 2001, the B.C. Liberals' record in public education is one of surreptitious downloading of costs and unilateral policy announcements, coupled with refusals to respond to trustees' requests for clarification on abrupt policy shifts, all wrapped in relentless spin-doctoring. Long-range planning about curriculum changes, local innovation or community outreach programs, to mention but a few concerns, has became virtually impossible as a provincial agenda has dominated day-to-day school matters.…..