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Teacher wars: Where has respect for education gone?

June 17th, 2014 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized

British Columbia’s education conflicts reveal the competition for funds between public and independent schools, and the political conflict between two visions of society

picture 553In British Columbia—and also in Alberta and Ontario—teachers seem to be under relentless attack and criticism. “The profession is in a state of seemingly constant turmoil,” writes National Post columnist Kelly McParland, “faced with steady demands for change to a system that was good enough to educate today’s leaders, but is deemed unsatisfactory for their children or grandchildren.”

B.C.’s teachers are on strike—though media reports suggest that contract negotiations with government haven’t ‘broken down’ but have ‘stalled.’ Teacher Ann McLean is retiring after 20 years at Sidney’s Parkland School, but is now walking the picket line. She told the Times Colonist, “I’m very worried about the public education system. It feels like it has all been taken away gradually.” Ongoing cuts and lack of funding has led teachers to wonder whether the government believes in public education, Ann McLean says.

Crawford Kilian, a columnist for The Tyee (and former public education columnist for the Vancouver Province newspaper), wrote recently about British Columbia’s education woes—and the loss of respect for both teachers and public education. He traces the loss of social respect for public education to the political influence of [former B.C. premier] Bennett, [former U.S. president] Reagan and [former U.K. prime minister] Thatcher. “Education has been reduced to a babysitting service and a consumer good. Far from being a path to a better life, it’s a path to more education followed by underemployment. From kindergarten to university, schools are ranked liked consumer reports judging this year’s cars. We gain and maintain our social status in part by where we went to school.” Kilian believes that independent (i.e. “private”) schools should not necessarily qualify for government funding.

We speak with Crawford Kilian.

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