There's good news and bad news in the British Columbia Government's plans for the province's schools.

Many of the new BC Ministry of Education accountability contracts with school districts include improving the performance of Aboriginal students. That means local strategies must make sure fewer Aboriginal students drop out - reading and writing skills have to improve along with attendance rates, and more Aboriginal students will graduate from high school. Local programs must be revised to ensure greater success rates.

For example;

School District 27 Cariboo-Chilcotin where First Nations students make up almost 20% of the student population. STudent performance objectives and areas of improments -"Goal #4: Education of students of First Nations Ancestry is focused on student needs. Success rates of First Nations students are equivalent to that of other students in academic performance at all grades. The drop-out rate of First Nations students is reduced each year. All the major recommendations of the Gleddow Report have been implemented. First Nations parents and students have indicated an increase in satisfaction with First Nations programs and student success. In addition, there is be on-going consultation with the First Nations communities regarding issues of standards of success, and satisfaction with district and school efforts to support First nations students."

School District 91 - Nechako. They promise the following Aboriginal-specific performance goals - improvements ... "More Aboriginal students will stay in school as they progress from Grade 8 to 9. The number and rate of Aboriginal students graduating with a Dogwood Certificate will increase over the next 6 years. More Aboriginal Students will meet or exceed expectations in grades 4, 7 and 10 and in FSA assessments in Reading, Writing, and Numeracy."

School District 85 - northern end of Vancouver Island. "Aboriginal Grad Rate: Increase the actual grad rate (dogwood) for aboriginal students by 10% each year. Track the actual grad rate of aboriginal students each year."

School District 83 - North Okanagan-Shuswap' student performance objectives - areas of improvement where success will be measured include "Graduation rate of students of First Nations ancestry. Attendance rates of students of First Nations ancestry. Transition rate to post-secondary education or employment of students of First Nations ancestry."

You can review all School District plans by clicking HERE

That's the good news, or at least the promising, encouraging news --- if in fact school districts have the means to carry out their commitments. They can promise all they want, on paper. But in the end, the argument might be made they no longer will have adequate resources to get the job done, and the contracts are not really designed with punitive actions in mind.

Despite the Minister of Education's dictates to districts, have we really grasped the significance of the BC government's other significant actions, such as the budget cuts in education and their impact on Aboriginal students?

Educators do not doubt the severity of what's taking place. For example, asked by Turtle Island Native Network for an assessment of the impact, Adrienne Montani, Vancouver School Board Trustee said, "With a disproportionate number of Aboriginal families experiencing poverty, their children's ability to be full participants in the public school system and to get their needs met will definitely be in jeopardy during a time of cutbacks."

The announced cuts to the $5.4 million in inner city school funding (5 secondary and 18 elementary school affected in Vancouver) will hit Vancouver's schools with the highest numbers of Aboriginal students hardest -- e.g. MacDonald Elementary, Britannia Elementary and Secondary and Grandview Elementary.

The other 3 parts of the "social equity" funding for schools (about $37 million for BC) held by Ministry for Children and Family Development MCFD for hot lunches, extra counselling or support staff, and community schools, have been given only a one-year reprieve, while they are reviewed for efficiencies, outcomes, etc., and recommendations made about who, if anyone, should pay for them.

Montani explained in detail that, "In general, the K-12 education budget freeze over 3 years will mean cuts to services, and the most vulnerable services historically have been those that many Aboriginal learners need -- e.g. for special needs, learning disabled students (assessments/diagnoses and actual specialized help). Students from low income families are predictably further disadvantaged and marginalized within the education system by the loss of special supports (teachers, counsellors, youth and family workers, aides, speech/language pathologists, teacher psychologists, alternate program workers), rising participation costs (e.g. fees for field trips, course materials,...)."

Anti-racism programming (teacher education, student education) and staff time dedicated to addressing discrimination is vulnerable to being seen as a "frill" in the best of times, and low on the priority list when money is tight. Similarly, money for program supplies that support Aboriginal arts and cultural programming can easily dry up. Money to buy textbooks and other learning resources to replace materials that contain racist or stereotypical depictions of Aboriginal people, or to fill in gaps in available information on Aboriginal history and experiences, has already been in extremely short supply.

Montani warns, "Expect this to get worse!"

She also echoes what others have been saying about education cuts in general. Larger class sizes, if implemented, will hurt all students, but those who are struggling for one reason or another will be most affected by the loss of individual attention from their teachers. "Larger class sizes makes it harder for teachers to establish and maintain relationships and communication with parents, an area where there is a lot of work to be done with Aboriginal parents and caregivers."

All the cuts to youth programs, like the Youth Action Program (where you could volunteer to earn post-secondary tuition credits), summer student job subsidies, etc., detailed in the government's services plans, will definitely impact low income students (or aspiring post-secondary attendees) disproportionately.

At a meeting of the First Nations Education Committee of the BC School Trustees Association members drafted a motion for submission to the school trustees association legislative committee calling on the government to maintain and expand inner city school funding, noting that this announced funding cut disproportionately affects Aboriginal students.

A second motion was drafted around reviewing social studies and FNStudies12 curriculum materials to create inserts to correct inaccuracies and omissions in representing FN's history, cultures and present realities.

A third motion was drafted to encourage the Education Partners Group (provincial group including teachers, superintendents, INAC, Minstry of Education, principals, FNESC...) to focus on creating partnerships at the local/district level to improve transitions for FN students and parent involvement.

A fourth motion was drafted urging the Minstry of Education to reinstate funding to support FN curriculum development (e.g. language training).

All of these motions will be reviewed by the legislative committee for tabling as resolutions at the BCSTA AGM in late April.

The committee also agreed to ask the BCSTA board to write to the Minister of Education to thank her for pledging to keep Aboriginal Education targeted funding (for this coming budget year only), and to write to the BCTF thanking them for their letter of support on this issue.

Countering the doom and gloom of cutbacks, school district contracts that commit to improvements do provide some hope for Aboriginal students.

However, it does appear that we'll be counting on good faith and goodwill at the local level, pressure from Aboriginal parents, communities and the Minister, and greater efforts by the students, to make sure promises get translated into action.

For more on School District contracts Click HERE

For CBC report on School District Performance Click HERE

For CBC report on Vancouver School Board Click HERE

For more on Aboriginal Education issues Click HERE

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