The PAC cut you didn’t hear about

By Katherine Wagner

The Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Times, Friday, December 04, 2009

The BCCPAC Advocacy Project is not well known among the general public or even a vast majority of parents. But for those parents who need advice, information and support, the project and its two contracted advocates, Janet Phillips and Cathy Bedard, are a lifeline.

In September, BCCPAC’s operating grant was decimated when the provincial government cut $200,000 from the expected $300,000 cheque. Volunteer directors are facing some tough decisions. The Advocacy Project is a significant part of BCCPAC’s annual budget and therefore is now in limbo.

For 15 years the project taught all education partners about parent rights, as well as parent and education system responsibilities. The need and the requirement for administrative fairness in the public education system has been a consistent theme.

BCCPAC’s Advocacy Final Report (1995) features a laundry list of parent-identified barriers to advocacy: communication, lack of time, lack of information; policy and process, fear of retribution, lack of support from other parents, perception of bias, issue confusion, undefined resolution, powerful intimidating individuals, and blocking from those responsible for resolving issues in the system.

In 2009, most of the barriers still remain but to a lesser extent, thanks in part to the work of the provincial advocates.

When employees of the public education system find themselves in difficulty or feel they have been treated unfairly, they have union representation, help from their membership organizations and/or assistance from the human resources department. In addition, there is a well-established legislative framework designed to support anyone who works for an employer.

Employees and trustees also have access to taxpayer-funded legal assistance. Parents advocating for their children (or other parents) sometimes face a daunting lineup on the other side, with little assistance from either the school system or legislation.

Positive changes emerge slowly. Baby steps include recent legislation providing parents and students expanded rights to appeal some decisions beyond the school district — www.studentappeals.gov.bc.ca. The Advocacy Project produced excellent resources for parents. A manual titled Speaking Up! is available to download from their website.

Supporting and helping parents and parent groups gain the skills to advocate for students is critical to improving learning outcomes.

The province and districts are crying extreme poverty as the rationale for funding and service cuts. However, both appear able to find money for some questionable priorities during hard times.

School districts find money for retreats, conferences and hefty dues for membership organizations such as the BC School trustees Association. While professional development is important the venue for receiving it could be more modest.

The provincial government claims it can find $150 million to fully implement all-day kindergarten and help close achievement gaps. Advocacy also closes achievement gaps, costs a mere fraction of a fraction of the kindergarten proposal, and supports students and their families in grades K through 12.

At a minimum there should be a commitment to continue the Advocacy Project at its former level of service. There are also compelling reasons to ramp up the entire concept of advocacy.

Meaningful parent engagement positively impacts student achievement and narrows the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. When parents are empowered to advocate for their child’s learning, everyone wins. Ideally, public schools identify a parent or other adult for every single child and provide the supports and structures for effective advocating for student learning needs.

In 1994, then BC Ombudsman Dulcie McCallum articulated a vision for PACs and DPAC’s that went beyond fundraising, “PACs and DPACs offer a viable mechanism for promoting effective advocacy with and on behalf of students. If parents have concerns about educational services, Parent Advisory Councils are a resource to work with other partner groups in achieving a resolution.”

Fifteen years later there is still a lot of work to do and the Advocacy Project is a platform on which to build further. Tearing down that platform threatens to dismantle the fragile successes parents and students rely on.