Wednesday, May 31, 2017

They're Calling It "The GreenDP" and Predicting It'll Be Good News for Education in B.C.


From the National Observer I learned of the name, GreenDP, the next government of British Columbia forged out of an accommodation of the small but grossly under-represented Green Party and the much larger New Democrats.

According to NatObs education editor, the new government is the "best-case scenario" for public education in B.C.

My conclusion: the dark days of the B.C. Liberals' war on public education are over. After so many years of bleak financial news for public schools, it’s hard to get my head around the idea. But it’s true.

So long Christy Clark (who apparently still won’t go without a fight, but she’ll go soon), her “low-hanging-fruit” administrative savings, school closures and Peter Fassbender’s “affordability zone.” Good riddance to annual budget cutting, the on-again, off-again 95 per-cent-capacity-utilization requirement and stalled seismic upgrades, along with unfunded cost downloads and constant pressure to close schools.

The long, dark, stormy night is over and a new day is dawning for B.C.'s public education system. It won’t help the hundreds of thousands of kids like mine who were part of the generation who went through school under B.C. Liberal governments, but it bodes well for present and future students.

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