What Class Size and Composition Issues Mean To My Family

We are now at the beginning of our third week of strike action in September. Exploratory discussions collapsed just over two weeks ago, with the mediator declaring that the two sides were too far apart for mediation. While they are once again holed up at a hotel in Richmond, discussing things, I'm not holding my breath for a satisfactory resolution. And so, it's time for me to talk about how the real sticking point for the government affects a real family.


I'm neither a teacher nor an EA. I am the stay-at-home parent of four, two of which (so far) have been designated gifted. I have watched as year after year, I sit in IEP meetings to set up goals for my children, only to have the year-end IEP print-out say "Insufficient progress to meet goals". This is not the fault of the teacher, who is forced to perform triage in the classroom daily; this is not the fault of the student, who would self-direct if only the resources were made available. This is the fault of the government who has sought to systematically underfund public education for over a decade. If my children's classrooms were funded properly, there would be an EA present to assist the struggling students, and the teacher would have enough time to implement the strategies put in place to augment my kids' educational experience.  

 
In fact, the only year an IEP said those beautiful words that should be on every year-end report - "Exceeding expectations; sufficient progress to meet goals" - was the year that Primus was in the bottom of a split class, which was largely older kids and a few really strong kids in his grade. This was a class where two teachers job-shared; one of which was the vice-principal, who had many adminstrative duties outside of the classroom. With 27 students in the class, it would seem on its face to be sub-optimal conditions, but it was because of the carefully considered classroom composition that it was such a successful year for Primus. But that was the only year like that for him. Secunda has never experienced such a successful year.

CS&C issues are precisely why my kids are falling between the cracks. And they're the lucky ones, because they are intelligent and can work independently; they'll be okay academically, even if they are not given the tools to excel. It is the kids who are just doing okay, or the ones who struggle who suffer the most; it is the kids that have trouble, but not enough to get a category designation; it is the kids who have to wait upwards of three years for assessment. The government is failing our children, and by failing them, they are failing us all.

And we can't afford for them to fail. Primus and Secunda will both be in university in the next eight years. They will seek higher education in order to provide a meaningful and successful life for themselves. Primus wants to be a math professor; Secunda wants to be a family doctor. These are children who are going to grow up to be teachers and healers, mentors and leaders. And what I see happening to our public education system with regard to class size and composition is the crippling of a system that works. It is being dismantled piecemeal by a short-sighted government bent on populating their pet projects with ill-educated worker drones, meek sheeple who will do the distasteful jobs without questioning. Dangle enough of a tax break in front of them and they will continue to blindly vote for the party that is figuratively in bed with their corporate overlords.

The public education system in BC isn't broken. And the BC Liberals really aren't trying to fix it. They are trying to break it through breaking the will of teachers, of EAs and other support staff, and of parents who are crying out for the protection of their children's charter rights.