What's the Big Deal Anyways?

 

I suppose one shouldn’t be too surprised under our current regime, that given the very real repercussions of learning loss during the COVID shutdowns, those in charge should plow ahead with even more shocks to our education system by cancelling letter grades this upcoming school year.  We should be used to the stupidity by now, yet the hand wringing continues.  But this isn’t just about one change to our education system, it’s about all of it:  the cancellation of letter grades/changing the reporting to parents, weaker curricular guidelines, and eradicating ALL provincial exams at the high school level as part of a province wide rollout meant to revolutionize learning!  All of this is being done without any shred of evidence of how this will lead to a stronger, or more successful education system (it won’t. Many have tried, and all have failed), and none of this is being monitored.  Early on in this process, legislation was changed so that opposition to any of the proposed reforms could be muted.(p.91)  Nothing had to be debated in the Legislature.  So even though a “public consultation” was eventually done, the groundwork had already been laid to ensure the prevailing groupthink would emerge unscathed.

The eradication of letter grades and provincial exams were already supported  by our education leaders years ago, so why is anyone now surprised that school administration supports these changes while teachers, students and parents don’t?  Even more maddening is that even after seeing how the Province has intentionally weakened our public system, why do so many people still support their neighbourhood school? 

There’s no doubt these reforms have been detrimental, as we’ve already seen with our weaker learning outcomes and plunging student achievement in response to the implementation of the BCEd plan seven years ago.   In fact, British Columbia had the biggest academic decline in Canada, since 2015...and these results are prior to the additional learning loss which occurred during the COVID school shutdowns. 

We know that post secondary entry math and English skills are at an historic low.  The Vancouver School Board has set the bar even lower by cancelling honours math programs citywide, based on the recommendation of “UBC experts” that parents are racist.  Honour Roll is no longer existent in many communities, because the prevailing mantra suggests posting grades harms kids.  This half baked pablum approach to educating our children will continue unabated until parents stop treating our education system as a babysitting service, and demand that educating our children should be taken seriously.  Teaching kids demands a high degree of professionalism and rigorous standards based on years of proven instructional methods and content, but under these new reforms, we are allowing the erosion of these standards to occur, all on our watch.

British Columbia has the lowest public school enrolment in Canada, and parents of all socio economic backgrounds continue to sacrifice even more to send their kids to independent and private schools, while education budgets in the public system continue to skyrocket.  It’s certainly not for a lack of funding that the public system is in trouble, rather Identity politics and special interests have taken priority over the 3 R’s, and parents are frustrated that their concerns are not taken seriously.  So they leave.

As parents vacate our schools in record numbers, we need to demand more school choice under the public banner.  And why shouldn’t we?  Let’s start the conversation with our legislators.  Lobby to have those schools slated for closure, to be turned into a pilot project for Charter Schools. How could it possibly get worse if we don’t even try?

Many parents have that niggling feeling in the pit of their stomach that something’s not quite right but feel powerless to say anything. But parents have more power than anyone else in the system.  We elect schoolboards. We pay teacher’s salaries, we build schools.  We also exert the most control over our kids’ academic career, contrary to what unionists want us to believe.  So if the system cannot function at it’s most basic level, how can we trust it to solve more complex issues down the line?  School administrators love having parents help out at fundraisers and bake sales, but grow uncomfortable when they’re asked why kids can’t read, or why they require a tutor in Grade 3, because they can’t add properly.  Curriculum guidelines are left intentionally fuzzy to keep accountability away from the classroom.  But there is plenty of credible data and resources available to determine where kids should be at and to support parents.  Your child only has one chance to learn effectively during the formative years. Don’t be put off by suggestions that, “every child learns differently” or, “they’ll learn it eventually”.   That’s utter nonsense.  We wouldn’t tolerate a doctor suggesting our sick child might get better eventually, and just to be patient, so why do we tolerate the same excuse from our educators? 

It doesn’t take more money to educate our children better, it requires vision and strength.  We should not allow the learning gap to widen or allow kids from other countries to overtake the future jobs of our children because we were afraid to speak up.  The time is now, to be brave, and to stand up for our kids. Because entrusting others to do so will always lead to them being pushed aside.  In the current climate, stay strong for them and demand better.  Spark a petition, speak with your MLA.  Or boycott your child’s seat in the classroom until improvement occurs and go public with your concerns.  Our kids need you to act; their futures are worth it.