April 4, 2003

More Cuts to School Programs

The Campbell government is cutting grants to some school based programs and to many Parent Advisory Committees. Why can't it give simple answers and honestly say which schools will receive less funding?

Consider two examples where it is obvious that cuts are being made but government refuses to simply come out and provide the details. The first example is found in an April 2nd news release with a typically misleading headline, "Funding Maintained for School Based Services". On first blush, an innocent reader might take that to mean that the government finally agreed with the appeals made over the last year by Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail to keep school based programs that help children at risk. Keep in mind that in the New Era "maintain" or "protect" means freeze. So when "maintain" is combined with a statement about extending funding to three more school districts, it means that some schools with existing programs will face cuts.

The news release said "This funding includes $6 million to provide as a one-time payment to school districts to assist in planning and transition to this new model. As a result, the majority of school districts will see their funding increased or maintained this year." "One-time payments for transition:" is bureaucrat speak for phase out. "The majority will" means that some won't see their funding maintained. An open and honest government would provide a list of the programs that are going to be phased out, and explain why.

The second example of less than open and honest disclosure of cuts to school based programs comes from changes to what is called "PAC/DPAC Direct Access Funding". "Direct Access Funding" is the name given to the distribution of some gambling proceeds to community groups. Parent Advisory Committees (PACs) have been eligible for that funding. In the past they received $40 per student, but uncertainty was created when government "reviewed" the Direct Access program. On March 12, 2003, Solicitor General Rich Coleman put out a "To Whom It May Concern" letter in which he stated "I am pleased to inform you that the provincial budget, tabled in the Legislative Assembly on February 18, authorizes my ministry to distribute $136.5 million in gaming grants to community organizations in the province in the 2003/04 fiscal year - $65 million of which will go to the direct access program. This is an increase of $3.3 million in gaming grant funding." So far, so good, but there is a catch when the letter gets to funding for PACs.

Coleman's letter also said "All public and independent school Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) in the province will receive $20 per student, and all district PACs will receive $2,500. Only a basic application package and a dedicated gaming bank account will be required from the PAC or district PAC to receive this funding. Total funding to PACs will increase substantially as a result of these changes." The reality is that Funding per student is being cut in half, but government spins that by saying "total funding to PACs will increase". Some schools which did not previously apply for the funds may start applying for them but all the rest will have their previous allocations cut in half.

In addition to cutting future grants for some PACs, government has created uncertainty around grants to PACs for 2002-03. Applications were submitted as usual but government suspended processing those applications while it reviewed Direct Access Funding. Now it looks like government may either skip an entire year of funding for the PACs by ignoring or rejecting all of the 2002-03 applications, or it may apply the 50% reduced rate of $20 per student retroactively. Education Minister Christy Clark is fond of talking about how her government values parents and the importance of the Parent Advisory Committees. The Campbell government is devaluing the work of those parents as a consequence of the way it has handled the grants that many PACs had counted on in order to provide computers, assist with yearbooks, fund competitions and help with ceremonies.

This blow to PACs will be especially hard as parents are struggling frantically to address the growing gaps in public school funding as a result of Christy Clark's failure to fund the teachers salary increase and other increased costs like MSP premiums that the Liberals themselves legislated.