What is an education worth?
In the Victoria Times Colonist editorial which appeared in Tuesday's edition of the Prince George Citizen, the editor scolds the government for offering $40 a day per child to parents, stating that the government is showing the teachers that it is not prepared to negotiate. The same editorial accuses the BCTF (aka teachers) of being greedy and "out of line with reality." But the most telling statement is the final sentence: "A child's education is worth more than $40 a day."
To the BC government, a child's K-12 education for the year 2014-15 is worth $6900 per student. This number comes from the government's Resource Management Division Operating Grants Manual for 2014/15 (just Google it. It's on page 4). On September 30th each year, school districts submit student numbers (bums in seats, they call it) to the Ministry of Education. That number multiplied by $6900 becomes the district's operating budget for the year. Key word: operating - the money that goes directly into teaching and learning - supplies, books, salaries for teachers, support staff, and administrators.
The average number of days in session for schools in British Columbia is 194 a year. If we multiply the days in session by the government's offer of $40 a day, we get $7760 per student. School districts could do a lot with an extra $860 per student per year.
But wait! There are those pesky professional development days - up to five per year. No one remembers that the teachers (aka the BCTF) long ago agreed to extend the school year by 5 days in order to get professional development time. Who doesn't want teachers to keep up with developments in education? Would you want to go to a doctor who hadn't upgraded his skills in 20 years? So take those five worthless days out, and multiply $40 per day by the 189 days where the teachers are in class with the students. $40 times 189 days is $7560 per year per student. I think teachers and administrators would be delighted if that were the allocation for the 2014/15 year! Put that $40 per student per day where it ought to be - in schools.
Roberta Long
Retired Teacher, CNC Instructor
Prince George
