To the editor:
Re: "Class Notes," Oct. 14.
It is demonstrably untrue that declining enrolment in the Vancouver school district is caused by "families fleeing to the suburbs due to high housing costs" as is speculated every time the VSB reports a further drop in enrolment. A quick search of the Statistics B.C. website shows that the number of school-aged children living in Vancouver actually increased by 5,375 to a total of 71,412 during the period from 2000 to 2010. During this same time period, the number of children enrolled with the VSB steadily decreased by 4,291 students to a total of 51,901. VSB enrolment decreased even in years such as 2009 and 2010 when the number of children in the city increased markedly.
As these data show, the real reason VSB enrolment is declining is because a diminish-ing percentage of Vancouver's school children are enrolled in VSB schools-from 88 per cent in 2000 to just 73 per cent in 2010. The other 27 per cent of Vancouver's children must be attending private schools (with a minority being home-schooled). In spite of our infamous high-housing costs, more Vancouver parents each year are concluding that they must pay for a private school education for their children. Clearly something is seen to be wrong with public education.
The enrolment numbers indicate a crisis of faith in public schools that should be of concern to all right-thinking British Columbians.
We are slipping into a two-tier education system. Is this the way we want education to be? Is this acceptable to us? Public debate on the issue seems to be entirely missing.
Julee Kaye, Vancouver
