Class Composition: Tough On Kids And Teachers
Prince George, BC – The BC Teachers Federation is railing against new data showing that one out of every four classes in BC schools has four or more students with special needs.
According to Ministry of Education data released last week, there are 16,163 classes with four or more students with special needs and 3,875 classes with seven or more children with special needs. BCTF President, Jim Iker, says the province's class composition is worse than ever before.
"BC teachers fully support including all students, like those with special needs, in our classrooms, but 12 years of cutbacks has meant those kids are not getting the support they need." Iker says BC has lost 700 special education teachers since 2002 and the province has the worst student-educator ratio in Canada.
In School District 57, the President of the Prince George and District Teachers Association says there have been approximately 19 special education positions lost over those years, including positions cut during the rounds of school closures. "We have our challenges with class composition, especially in our inner city schools where there's a lot of complexities of issues with students," says Tina Cousins. "So, we're seeing in those classes, especially, the system needs assistance."
Cousins says intermediate teachers often face the greatest challenge because they have larger class sizes – up from low- to mid-20s in the primary grades to over 30 kids in a class. "In order to meet the needs (of students with special needs), we do a team approach and that involves a lot of people around these students, and that's what we do," she says. "But it's difficult to be the teacher – to be part of all those meetings with parents and other professionals, extended, school-based teams; come up with the strategies; try to find the resources for the students. It's a time factor."
Included in the Liberal Government's Bill 22, imposed on teachers in March of 2012, was a Learning Improvement Fund meant to address some of these issues. In School District 57, Cousins says those LI funds were used this past fall for support teachers in the schools one day per week. "Our district is trying to be as proactive as they can," says the PGDTA president. "We worked together as a team on that to say, 'Where are our hot spots and what can we do?', but we all knew at the time, it was a drop in the bucket for what we needed."
"It's like we're dancing as fast as we can," she adds. "They're (SD57 officials) trying to do the best that they can with the money they have – but it all boils down to money and kids are missing out, teachers are missing out."
Comments
It is disgusting what the school system has become.
If these children need more help then what teachers can offer them, there needs to be a system in place to help them. Piling special needs children in mainstream classrooms is a disservice to the special needs children who need more one on one attention to help them achieve their social and academic milestones.
The evidence is in; this government does not care about our children!
BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada, and now we have “the worst student-educator ratio in Canada.”
Yeah⦠“families first”⦠yeah right!!!!
Back when I went to school, they dedicated classrooms and had special-ed teachers. Those were closed down in favour of creating a more ‘inclusive’ environment.
Posted by: JohnnyBelt on January 13 2014 9:47 AM
Back when I went to school, they dedicated classrooms and had special-ed teachers. Those were closed down in favour of creating a more ‘inclusive’ environment.
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This is just one part of the “all kids are equal” mentality that is running rampant in today’s education system.
daisybee: Conversely, having special needs in a classroom can also be a large distraction to the other students. Especially, those who struggle with the normal curriculum.
Thanks to shirley bond and all her cuts to special education… she and her party have put us in this mess…
It was not just Ms Bond. Education cuts have been happening for years.
Cuts and reduced budgets have been happening since at least 2000.
Governments have finite or limited funds. With more and more special interest groups holding out their hands, there leaves a smaller piece of the pie for all that are dependent on government funding.
This is why I am opposed to the PAC proposal and other “public facilities”. Our governments at all levels are under extreme pressure to provide funding for this and that.
Eagle1 can speak to the effect of just printing more money, or increasing the tax burden of citizens and corporations. Of course this is not the answer.
Perhaps the answer would be to tie elected representatives’ compensation to economic health or GDP.
That anyone would even peripherally allude to our children, and their education, as being “a special interest group”⦠wow…
Don’t be so quick to place the blame on this debacle on the Liberals. The NDP were the ones promoting this all-inclusiveness when they had the hammer and started this integration process.
Many teachers of the day declared this would absolutely affect the quality of education for special needs children – in a negative way. And it would most likely result in effective education to be much more challenging for the regular student population.
For goodness sakes educators: wake up and see what is going on! Your solution of throwing more money at the problem will not solve anything – reorganize it to what it was 25+ years ago!
The Teachers union has no place in this process but career teachers do!
Anyone with a specific need or has a special need of any support from government is by definition a special interest group.
This would include the “children” due to them having to request those supports.
spe·cial
adjective Ëspe-shÉl
: different from what is normal or usual; especially : unusual in a good way : better or more important than others
: especially important or loved
: more than is usual
Nice “opinion” nuffsnuff. No doubt the NDP promoted the all-inclusive, or no child left behind, process. Back then, the instructional resources were in place to support that all-inclusive approach.
Since 2001, hundreds of schools have been closed through-out the province, and grey area special needs fund rolled into the general block funding, which means and good chunk of targeted funding is now no longer available to special needs students. All this under a Liberal government.
Yes the NDP started the all-inclusive and integration approach for special needs students, however Liberal government cutbacks and underfunding of the initiative rendered it completely ineffective!
Now we have the opposite approach being espoused by the Liberal government, namely reward teachers with more salary, the larger their class sizes are. What does this do to the special needs children who require more one-on-one instruction / care in those larger classrooms? One teacher with 60 students, and some of those 60 students with special needs⦠what a mess!!!!
By the way, there are children of family poverty, but there is no such thing a child poverty. Children are a financially supported group. Children do not have incomes, or expenses, their family unit has those.
If you are alluding to children being at risk due to poverty, then we agree. The thing is that this term is a heart wrenching marketing term coined to generate sympathy for a non-existent condition in Canada.
Now if we were discussing other countries, primarily third world that employ children, then you might have a valid term.
The solution is to get those family units out of poverty. The question becomes how?
Remember, poverty is about the disparity between those with enough or more then enough and those without enough.
If there were no such thing as wealth, and all were actually equal, poverty would not exist. That would be the utopian fantasy, eh. The fundamental problem is pure human greed and avarice. Why on earth does any individual need 10 million dollars per year income or other absurd amounts of income.
People: “Since 2001, hundreds of schools have been closed through-out the province”
In Prince George, there are 50% less students than there was 10 years ago. Certainly you can’t be suggesting that all schools should be kept open despite steep declining enrollement. Mind you, you think that money grows on trees, so maybe you do.
People: “One teacher with 60 students”
Where are the teachers that have 60 students? I believe the provincial average is around 30. Unless you were exaggerating to make a point…
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/teachers+promised+more+money+classes/6274249/story.html
I think from this point on, if anyone wants to debate this important issue⦠be prepared to back up your outlandish statements with sources.
Children do not have to have ‘poverty stricken’ parents to live in ‘poverty’ conditions, and vice versa. It is mostly in the parents attitude and priorities, some of the poorest kids can have the wealthiest of lives.
People: “I think from this point on, if anyone wants to debate this important issue⦠be prepared to back up your outlandish statements with sources.”
I read your article and there’s nothing in there about a classroom with 60 students. Talk about outlandish statements!
JB: I read the article and there was a lot about class sizes exceeding 30 students, talk about your previous comment about class sizes not exceeding 30 students being outlandish!!!
There are lots of teachers assistants (TA’S) helping special needs students one-on-one! This is a huge cost!
Posted by: People#1 on January 13 2014 2:16 PM JB: I read the article and there was a lot about class sizes exceeding 30 students, talk about your previous comment about class sizes not exceeding 30 students being outlandish!!!
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Are you sure People#1? Must have read something into JBs comment that was not there?
People: “JB: I read the article and there was a lot about class sizes exceeding 30 students, talk about your previous comment about class sizes not exceeding 30 students being outlandish!!!”
Your reading comprehension needs some work. I said that I thought the average was about 30 students in BC (go up and read it again yourself). It might be less, who knows.
Now, back to our statement about classrooms with 60 students. I’m still aiting for you to back that statement up. How about it, People#1? Or are you going to start in with the name calling?
JB, I guess you missed the part in the linked Vancouver Sun article about more than 30 students, so here let me help you read that “special” part again:
“A controversial bill now working its way through the legislature would give Grades 4-7 teachers an extra $2,500 a year for every student BEYOND 30 in their classrooms while secondary school teachers, who teach many courses per day, would receive $312 for every student BEYOND 30 in their courses, the B.C. Education Ministry told The Vancouver Sun.
JB⦠so what part of BEYOND 30 students do you not understand?
“Details â including the maximum amount that any one teacher could be eligible for â are yet to be determined.”
Hmm⦠yet to be determined⦠could mean a maximum of up to 60 students ;-)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/larger-classes-could-net-bc-teachers-2500-per-pupil-under-bill-22/article552576/
Under that proposed Bill 22, the Liberal government wanted to remove the maximum 3 IEP students per classroom limit⦠that says a lot about how this government views the needs of special needs student in this province.
The track record is there for all to see; this government does not care about children!
All you needed to say is that you pulled the “60” out of the air and were exaggerating to make a point, which we all knew from the start.
People: “JB⦠so what part of BEYOND 30 students do you not understand?”
The part where “beyond 30” equals 60. Why stop there? Why not 120? lol.
Hey look everyone, I have my very own personal troll following me around every time I post a comment on here.
Wow, is this the best the LIB-Cons can do? I was hoping for an intelligent debate on the issues, but all JB can do is comment on other people’s comments. Any original thoughts in your head JB?
Nice try, People#1, but your trolling attempt is ineffective and flaccid, much like your posts. Most people around here see you for what you really are.
Liberals tried to eliminate the limit of 3 IEP students per classroom under their failed Bill 22. Good thing the teachers stuck up for these special needs students!
“Eliminates the limit of 3 students with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) in a class.”
http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/sites/default/files/resources/bccpac_bill_22_information_sheet_as_of_july_27.pdf
On page 2.
Yup the evidence is in, the highest child poverty rate in Canada and now the worst student-educator ratio in Canada. The Lib-Con government just loves our children!!!
daisybee and only2c made the most sensible down to earth comments so far, on this story, imho.
Further to that, there are typically a wide range of learning abilities in every classroom, the conscientious teacher wants to reach each and every one of them; from those who understand the course the teacher is presenting and need little assistance, (have to keep them engaged) to those who don’t always understand the subject matter right away i.e. need more one on one time. Pretty difficult thing to achieve in the course of one period.
Class size is the real issue here, I think.
metalman.
That’s OK metalman, apparently we already have an appropriate response to special needs students in our public schools.
http://www.theprovince.com/life/Special+needs+students+being+punished+isolation+rooms+says+child+advocacy+group/9195942/story.html
Bottom line: after more than a decade of funding cuts, our public education system is broke and needs to be fixed.
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