Our Guest Ponders the Question; What is the Value of Summer School?

The following is a post by a guest contributor who we refer to as our Concerned Taxpayer. What, I ask, is the educational value of offering summer school to elementary school-age children these days?    When I was growing up, summer school was reserved for those kids who had failed a specific course needed for graduation. These students hated [...]

Many BC School District Operating Grants Frozen

The BC Liberal government repeats the refrain, “Highest funding ever!” whenever questioned about the underfunding of BC’s public education system. However, the cliche of “highest funding ever” does not adequately describe the real situation that many of BC’s school districts are facing. Thirty-three of BC’s school districts have had their budgets frozen. Budgets frozen even though those [...]

Vancouver Teachers Advised of Possible Layoffs

News release from Mike Lombardi, Trustee, Vancouver Board of Education: Vancouver, B.C. – (January 19, 2010) – Eight hundred teachers in the Vancouver school district will be receiving letters today advising them of possible layoffs and requesting they update their qualifications on file with the Vancouver School Board. The letter is not a layoff notice [...]

British Columbia Trucking Industry Facing Drastic Cuts to Training Programs

The following email was sent to the Premier Gordon Campbell and other cabinet members (and cc’ed) to us by Randy A. Eckert the President of Saferway Driver Training School Ltd. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Statistics Canada, Transport Canada, Canadian Trucking Alliance, British Columbia Trucking Association, Ontario Trucking Association, Private Motor Truck Council, Teamsters Canada, Unique Personnel [...]

The BC Liberal Index, Fall 2009

 B.C. LIBERAL INDEX Fall 2009 With apologies to HARPER’S Amount consumers will have to fork over for the HST: $1.9 billion Tourism jobs that will be lost due to the HST: 10,000 Restaurant industry jobs that will be lost due to the HST: 12,000 Number of HST-free Christmases left: 1, unless we stop the HST [...]

Interesting video from BC’s teachers

Looks like the BCTF is at it again, discussing how the overuse and misuse of standardized testing is threatening the qulaity of BC’s public education system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSIgmSKH8vc  BC Teachers believe the province needs to put a moratorium on standardized tests. Interestingly, not only is the standardized testing undermining the quality of BC’s public education system, the [...]

Margaret MacDiarmid’s latest pronouncement on education funding

In her latest public display of ignorance of how local school boards actually function, the Minister of Education, Dr MacDiarmid, said that school boards “will use cash reserves,, local restricted capital, and operating surplus funding to make this work a priority.” “This work” she refers to is the retrofits required to trim energy conservation in [...]

Campbell government; from crisis to crisis

You really have to wonder what is going on with the Gordon Campbell Liberals. The Campbell government was previously renowned for their incredible ability to control the politic agenda in BC, now they appear to be reeling from crisis to crisis with nobody in control. Right after the May election the news breaks that the Campbell [...]

BC Legislature Question Period

The best line from yesterday’s Question Period in the Legislature came from someone on the New Democrat’s side of the House, “Can one of the three Ministers of Sports please answer the question…” And why is that we need three ministers for sports in BC when local organizations are losing their ability to organize and [...]

BC Liberals choose wasteful appeal of Campbell’s Gag Law

Teachers, parents, and students across the province will be dismayed that the BC Liberals have chosen to waste valuable resources in an appeal of Gordon Campbell’s undemocratic and unconstitutional Gag Law at a time when schools are reeling from another round of mean-spirited cuts, BCTF First Vice-President Susan Lambert said today. “Parent Advisory Councils just [...]

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