Education seems destined for change

(Surrey Now, Tue Jun 22 2010, Keith Baldrey "In The House"

Are big changes to our public education system just around the corner?

Speculation is growing in the wake of the B.C. Liberal government's fight with the Vancouver school board that something new is coming.

Certainly, the B.C. Liberals have spent years talking about the need for change in the K-12 system. Pretty well every throne speech contains language suggesting significant change is on the way.

But aside from the introduction of full-day kindergarten, nothing particularly revolutionary has occurred in the education system. The Liberals made a big fuss unveiling such things as the "learning roundtable" and "teachers' congress" but they don't seem to have had much lasting impact on things. And now a new slogan - "21st century learning" - will soon be introduced, and I wonder whether some serious alterations to the education system will accompany it.

For possible clues on what may be coming, I dusted off this year's throne speech and re-read the section on public education. Certainly, the language in that speech does suggest something is in the works.

"Government will take steps to renew and revitalize education," the speech stated, adding that a "new emphasis will be placed on parental involvement."

The speech also stated that "new forms of schools will be developed to provide greater choice and diversity."

I suppose these promises can be read as so much empty government rhetoric. On the other hand, given the evident frustration over the conduct of the Vancouver school board the language can also be seen as suggesting provocative change.

Part of the backdrop here is the often testy relationship between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Liberal government. Gordon Campbell is married to a long-time former school principal, and anyone who knows a school principal knows the frustrations many of them feel when it comes to dealing with teachers (in terms of the rigid control the BCTF exerts over the workplace).

So he's had years to become familiar on that front. Another important factor to consider here is the recent report by the province's comptroller-general on the Vancouver school board's financial situation.

Political opponents of the government (most notably Vancouver school trustees themselves) have dismissed the report as a meaningless exercise that revealed nothing new. But those who view that report only as it pertains to school trustees may be missing the larger picture.

Comptroller-general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland portrays the Vancouver school board as operating within a governance model that is largely controlled by the employees who work for it (i.e. teachers and CUPE support staff workers). As a result, flexibility and the ability to change policies are greatly hampered.

While there has been a lot of attention paid to the war of words between Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid and VSB chair Patti Bacchus, a key phrase from the minister has been overlooked.

She has talked about the need for a new "governance model" and how she will develop one soon. A new model is going to have a more profound impact on our system than closing a few schools or squabbling over a school board's budget.

So what, exactly, is the B.C. Liberal government up to?

Is it about to do an end run around the BCTF and CUPE by setting up these "new forms of schools" with direct parental involvement? Is it about to take the first steps toward creating a new parallel education system?

One clue may be what's going on in England, where the new coalition government is embarking on a massive restructuring of the country's education system. There, the Swedish model of so-called "free schools" (where parents and organizations set up their own school with government money) is being implemented.

Will we see "free schools" set up on a trial basis in a few school districts? It can be argued that the B.C. Liberals, given their very low standing in the polls, do not have the political credibility or muscle to carry out big changes on any front.

But they wouldn't be the first government to go down swinging over an issue it considers important enough.

Oh, and have I mentioned the BCTF will soon enter negotiations for a new contract? The teachers' union has said it won't accept a wage freeze like other public sector unions, so a fight is brewing on that front as well.

Perhaps that's the one thing - a contract battle with teachers -- that won't change in education. But it sure seems likely that "21st century learning" means other changes are on the way.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.