You
can't find one word on the Ministry
of Education's website about the October 18th email
sent to school districts informing them that the Campbell
government is, without consultation, changing the funding
formula retroactive to the beginning of the school year.
The Ministry that issues news releases for the slightest
thing that makes the government look good has hidden information
from the public about its changes to base funding for grades
10-12.
NDP
Education Critic David
Cubberley broke the news that the government is cancelling
the base funding for students taking fewer than 8 courses
in grades 10, 11 and 12. Cubberley estimates that the impact
of the change could be as much as $50 million province-wide,
but when he raised the issue in question period all Education
Minister Shirley Bond could say was: "Every dollar
that we committed in the budget will go to education in
the province." She didn't say where the dollars that
will be cut from needy school districts will be reallocated.
School districts now have yet another hole in their budgets.
In March
2007 the Ministry made a 42 page "Operating
Grants Manual" available to explain the "simplified
funding formula". It stated that the Ministry of Education
would make a total of $4.3449 billion available to school
boards for operating grants in the 2007/08 school year,
an increase of 2.66% over the 2006/07 school year. It also
stated that some changes would be made, but it gave no hint
that the Ministry's definition of full-time-equivalent (FTE)
students would change. The policy
on the Ministry's website dated as being in effect since
March 2002 gives this definition:
Cubberley's
revelation, confirmed by Bond's response in question period,
is that the "base minimum of 0.5 FTE" is being
eliminated retroactively, creating uncertainty for school
boards. So much for the Campbell government's promise of
funding stability.
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