Public Education and Land Development in Vancouver

My thoughts on learning about the circumstances surrounding two public elementrary schools in Vancouver, how they reflect the priorities of the powers that be, and my hopes that the final decisions about these schools will favour students and not people with money to burn.

The words I use in the recording may not match the words in the transcript.

Transcript

Public Education and Land Development in Vancouver


Within the last couple of weeks or so, I read in the news that the City of Vancouver is considering permanently closing Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School, and selling off former basketball courts at Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary School to a land-development company, and replacing them with--surprise, surprise--more condo developments (as if Vancouver doesn't have enough of those); thankfully, people--chiefly, the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council and parents and guardians of students attending the aforementioned schools, are challenging these decisions, and the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council has called the closure of Carleton Elementary and the sale of Fleming Elementary's former basketball courts as 'short-sighted cash grabs' that would reduce public school land at a time when enrolment is rising and some schools in the city are already stretched thin--to the point where parents are having to split their kids up amongst different schools just to make sure those kids go to school; according to the Vancouver Sun article, '"Short-sighted cash grabs": Parents push back as Vancouver school board weighs school closure, condo plan,' 'Council chairwoman Melanie Cheng and other parents are urging the school board and the city to halt rezoning of Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary School and reconsider the proposed closure of Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School, warning that both reflect a lack of long-term planning for public education in their fast-growing communities.' These possible developments are being considered while private schools get government as well as private funding and public schools are underfunded, overcrowded, and public-school teachers are overwhelmed.

According to the Government of British Columbia's web page on independent school funding, government funding of private schools in Vancouver (and British Columbia) is calculated as a percentage, typically 50% or 35%, of the per-student operating grant that public schools receive, with rates varying based on the independent school's specific operating costs and tuition levels. Even if there are legitimate reasons for governments to fund private schools, private schools should not be getting more money from the government than public schools do--and not just because public schools have less methods of funding than private schools (the latter of which charge tuition). I don't have kids, but I have attended public schools, so I know how important public school is--and how important it is to have public schools available, especially to kids whose parents aren't millionaires or billionaires or aren't lucky enough to get scholarships to attend private schools. If not for public schools, kids who aren't born into generational wealth would never get an education, and thus improve their life circumstances but instead be forced to braces themselves for futures not worth having. Ergo, public schools are important for propping up, promoting, and maintaining democracy, in that they provide equal opportunity for all children to learn, and thus build lives worth living.

This latest situation with these schools--which, by the way, are in East Vancouver--just further illustrates the priorities of Vancouver City Hall, made apparent by the current mayor, Ken Sim, and his 'business and profit first' mindset and his lack of care for anyone who doesn't have millions or billions of dollars to their names. While condo and land developers and private schools get considerable public/government funding, public schools--and the people even remotely associated with them--are getting short-changed, and the future of democracy is getting undermined.

I don't know when the Vancouver School Board will make its final decision regarding the closure of Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School, but I hope it does the right thing and does what is necessary to get Carleton in shape to accept students once more. As for the sale of the land at Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary School to land developers...well, let's hope that that's a rarity--even if it is in Vancouver. But what's undeniable is that it is time the powers that be viewed public-school students--at all levels--as people and citizens, and thus worthy of investing in...even if there is no immediate financial, or any other, reward.

Sources:

https://vancouversun.com/news/parents-push-back-vancouver-school-board-weighs-condo-plan

https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/increased-public-funding-for-private-schools-is-dividing-us-and-needs-to-stop/

https://www2.gov.bc.ca>gov>program-management