The gap between student needs and Surrey schools’ capacity to meet them has become so severe that teachers, parents, and support workers hosted a joint news conference on December 16 to call upon government to make the significant investments needed to resolve the crisis.
Lizanne Foster, president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association (STA), worked with Tammy Murphy, president of CUPE 728, and Anne Whitmore, president of the District Parent Advisory Council, to sound alarm bells about the critical needs in Surrey schools.
In a joint letter to Premier David Eby and Minister of Education and Child Care Lisa Beare, they described Surrey’s severe infrastructure, staffing, and resource shortages and called for specific actions and increased funding to remedy the very difficult situation they face in BC’s most rapidly growing municipality.
They also highlighted Eby’s campaign promises to ensure there would be an education assistant in every K–3 classroom and a mental health counsellor in every school, and they put government on notice that they will be watching for evidence that these promises were not just empty words.
Monday’s news conference at the STA office shone a light on multiple problems: severe overcrowding in Surrey schools and years-long delays in approvals for new school construction; the shortage of inclusive education support workers to assist the most vulnerable students; the shortage of teachers and specialist teachers, such as counsellors; and the urgent need for sufficient funding to provide wrap-around support.
To have the voices of teachers, support staff, and parents raised in unison sends a very powerful message indeed.
Below are links to some of the news coverage that resulted from this teamwork: