It's funny how right in the middle of the campaign for seats on the Delta school board a provincial election broke out.
OK, so I'm being a bit facetious, but given the mayor has been acclaimed and there's a status quo kind of vibe to the council proceedings, the battle for seven trustee spots has become the most compelling race in the lead up to Saturday's vote. And the debate over how vocal school trustees should be as advocates for increased funding has dominated the discussion over the last couple of weeks.
In the wake of a bitter and prolonged teachers' strike, the Delta Teachers' Association has made a conscious effort to frame the discourse in this way.
Teachers here and elsewhere in the province are keen to see calls for increased funding originate from places beyond just BCTF headquarters.
Perhaps Victoria will finally sit up and take notice, and the issue will be viewed by the public as more than a management-union struggle, if school trustees become more vocal in their advocacy for increased education funding. At least that's the hope, which is why teachers across the province are trying to take hold of school board races.
The governance provided by local school trustees is inextricably linked to Victoria, specifically by the amount of funding the provincial government allocates to operate each district, however, school boards are the creation of the province and as such, can be replaced should they dare to step out of line.
The province fired the Cowichan Valley school board a couple of years ago after it didn't submit a balanced budget as required. After relieving them of their duties for approving a so-called restoration budget, which came complete with a $2.4 million deficit, the education minister at the time said it's regrettable trustees put political advocacy ahead of their obligations.
I guess trustees here or elsewhere could follow Cowichan Valley's lead and do more to highlight funding inadequacies, but it doesn't take a psychic to see where that kind of approach would eventually end up. That's why the debate has, to generalize here, been split along the lines of incumbents, who claim there's only so much they can do, and challengers, who advocate a stronger stand. Given the state of B.C.'s classrooms, there's absolutely no denying there's a pressing need to make education funding an election issue.
I'm not convinced, however, local school board races are the best places to do that.
