December 31, 2003

Minister of Education 100% in Error

Official enrollment numbers are now available on the Ministry of Education website; they reveal that as of September 30, 2003, full time equivalent enrollment in public schools totaled 575,642 students; full time equivalent educators totaled 33,344. In 2002 the numbers were 580,406 students, and 33,900 educators. That means that public school enrollment declined by less than 0.8% while the number of educators declined by twice as much, 1.6%.

The Ministry of Education also reported that as of September 30, 2003, there were 39,534 full time equivalent students in "independent" schools compared to 38,992 in 2002.

The Campbell government ran paid advertisements in September when Education Minister Christy Clark was once again attacking school boards and teachers with claims about substantial reductions in school enrollment. The numbers used by government at that time can now be compared to the official count as posted on the Ministry website. A graph included in the print ad showed enrollment in 2003-04 of 582,549 declining to 573,266 in 2005-06, but the "fact sheet" issued with a government news release said that "School districts report that enrolment declined by nearly 2,800 students in 2001/02, and more than 7,900 students in 2002/03; districts project enrolment will drop by another 9,100 students in 2003/04."

The actual numbers are in sharp contrast to the government "backgrounder". A generous interpretation of the estimate of 9,100 may be that it was something other that full time equivalent students; a cynical interpretation is that it was pure propaganda used to justify the inadequate funding that has resulted in larger class sizes. The Ministry claim in September is almost 100% wrong compared to the official statistics that are now available (a decline of 4,764 compared to 9,100). Those inaccuracies are particularly important as we approach the February 2004 provincial budget.