A new piece of legislation will give the provincial government more power to set the standards for teachers’ professional development and force school boards to work together on trimming administrative costs.
Education minister Peter Fassbender announced Bill 11, the Education Statutes Amendment Act, March 26. It amends the School Act, the Independent School Act and the Teachers Act.
According to Fassbender, Bill 11 will help school districts reduce overhead costs, set standards for teacher development and put a stronger focus on accountability for student outcomes.
The legislation gives boards the “clear authority to enter into shared service or alternative service delivery agreements with other boards or public sector entities.”
And it also gives the minister of education more power to instruct boards to take part in “specific service delivery arrangements.”
Fassbender said the government will work with BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) to develop the new professional development standards.
But BCTF president Jim Iker said in a press conference organized later that day that he was disappointed the government introduced the bill without first talking to teachers. The union learned about the bill only the day before it was announced.
“Of immediate concern today is the minister of education’s power to override democratically-elected school boards so he can implement the government’s ongoing underfunding agenda,” Iker said.
On the issue of teacher’s professional development, both Iker and Powell River and District Teachers’ Association president Cathy Fisher agree legislation is not required to get teachers to embrace professional development.
“As parents well know, teachers are constantly working to improve their practice and actively support many meaningful programs and initiatives,” said Fisher. “If the government is going to make changes to professional development, they need to respect teachers’ professionalism and autonomy as well as deliver new funding to support any changes. BC teachers will not support a top-down, government-mandated approach to professional development.”
Fisher added that the bill “is a distraction to divert attention away from the growing concern about underfunding in our public schools.
“If the government were really concerned about improving public education, they would start with reversing the funding cuts announced in February.”
Fisher was referring to the provincial government’s announced that there would be $54 million less over the next two years from the province to pay for running schools across BC. More than half of the province’s 60 boards of education have written letters, Powell River included, to tell the ministry of education that further cuts to funding will have detrimental effects on the classroom.
