Editor:

Professor Lal Sharma gives our analysis of B.C. education funding a failing grade, claiming that B.C.'s total education funding for 2010-11 is actually $5.6 billion, not $5.1 billion as we reported.

The B.C. Ministry of Education's 2010-11 service plan (conveniently posted on its website at www.gov.bc.ca/bced confirms that our budget numbers are correct. B.C.'s total budget for education programs for 2010-11 is $5.1 billion and the total ministry budget, including public libraries, is $5.16 billion. Of that total, $4.66 billion is allocated to operate public schools.

Sharma notes that the provincial government increased education funding by $112 million for 2010. However, education costs (most mandated or controlled by the province) will rise by almost three times that much, the B.C. Association of School Business Officials has estimated. Additionally, the education ministry projects that province wide enrolment will increase in 2010. This explains why even districts with growing enrolment faced budget deficits in 2010 and were therefore forced to cut services.

Sharma also claims that per-student funding now exceeds $10,000 yearly. Again, this is not consistent with the B.C. Education Ministry's own calculations, which estimate average per student funding for 2010-11 is $8,301, as we had indicated.

Sharma bemoans the sad fact that so many of Chilliwack's public school students are struggling with math--but apparently they are not alone. And while we can't seem to agree on the math around education funding, I would reiterate that we fully agree on the need to invest more in early intervention for students with learning challenges. This is sound educational policy, as the long-term benefits would far outweigh the costs. What Dr. Sharma fails to grasp is that the province's failure to adequately fund special education costs has created a growing gap, eroding our public schools' capacity to offer the early intervention programs that our students so urgently require.

Our website includes extensive information on B.C. education funding, local impacts and links to advocacy initiatives such as Chilliwack's "Kids Matter." Since Prof. Sharma clearly shares our passionate commitment to a strong and effective public education system, I would invite him to browse the information on our website, link up with local public education advocates and/or add his name to our almost 5,000 supporters on Facebook.

This is about the success of our K-12 students. They are British Columbia's future. There is nothing more important than our collective responsibility to work together to secure the necessary investments to prepare them as best we can for whatever lies ahead.

Dawn Steele

BC Education Coalition