To the editor:
Re: “VSB schools raise $3.4m in one year,” Nov.6.
Cheryl Rossi’s article on fundraising in public schools serves to highlight what teachers, parents and trustees have been saying for many years — the provincial government is not providing adequate funding to public schools, is downloading costs to individual school boards and is depending on parents to jump in to cover the shortfalls caused by continuous cuts ($100m in 10 years) to public education budgets.
There are numerous telling statements in the article — the range of funds raised by individual schools is from $1,000 to $20,000. What does this tell us? Schools located in more affluent areas of the city will be much better off than schools in poorer areas. Does this seem fair to our children?
Education Minister, Peter Fassbinder claims that “fundraising brings people together … in a positive way.” However, teachers and parents will tell you that fundraising in public schools is often stressful for them and humiliating for students.
Fundraising often involves competition (pizza for the class that raises the most money, a playground for the school that gets the most computer votes), where students and schools are pitted against each other in a most uncooperative way.
When fundraising does occur, the least that should happen is that any funds raised in a particular school district should to be collected centrally by the school board and then distributed equally throughout the district on a per student basis so that all students have the same access to resources and the same opportunities to learn.
It is a bad idea to depend on fundraising and charitable handouts to finance our schools. It is said that public education is the cornerstone of democracy and a great equalizer. Until there is sufficient investment in education, we are doomed to inequality in our society.
Nancy Hawkins,
Vancouver
