A commentary. Ungerleider is a UBC professor emeritus of education and former deputy minister of education. Mussio is a former executive director of policy in the Education Ministry.
The School Act that governs British Columbia’s K-12 public school system establishes the administrative foundation for public schools, yet fails to focus on their core mission: student learning.
British Columbia’s educational policy needs a complementary Education Act centred on student learning outcomes. Such an act would provide the province with a more stable and purposeful foundation for education reform.
The current School Act, spanning 178 sections and more than 63,000 words, details the administrative requirements for public school operations. It addresses everything from students’ rights to enroll if they meet the age requirements to details of school board procedures.
For instance, kindergarten classes must not exceed 22 students, school board budgets must be adopted by June 30 each year, all meeting minutes must be legibly recorded, and if the secretary treasure is unable to attend a meeting, the board may designate another employee to attend.
These rules send the message to education leaders across the province that adherence to process, not student success, is the primary goal.
In 2018, an independent provincial panel led by a former deputy finance minister reported a lack of clarity and accountability for student outcomes across the province. According to the panel, financial oversight is primarily focused on funding mechanisms rather than on whether those funds enhance student achievement.
British Columbia’s health sector, by contrast, offers a more balanced model for governance. The Hospital Act governs administrative procedures, while the Public Health Act emphasizes public health outcomes, disease prevention, and overall health planning.
A similar distinction in education – a School Act for administration and an Education Act for student learning – could better reflect the purpose of our schools and provide a stable, rational structure for policy implementation.
At present, educational priorities for student learning are largely inferred from policy documents or ministerial orders that can change with each new minister.
Over the past two decades, policies governing school district accountability have shifted multiple times. The school accreditation program, a cornerstone of educational accountability since 1935, was abruptly cancelled in 2002. Over the years, it was replaced by a series of policies – school planning councils, district achievement contracts, superintendents’ reports on achievement, external reviews, and ministry-appointed superintendents – each aimed at improving student outcomes.
Most recently, the Ministry of Education has required boards to include student outcome data in budget planning and report it annually, a sensible policy but one that may not survive the next ministerial transition.
The handling of provincial examinations further illustrates the instability of provincial policy. Grade 12 exams in academic subjects, a feature of the secondary schools over the past century, was made optional about 15 years ago. When large numbers of students, unsurprisingly, chose not to write the exams, the ministry cancelled the program in 2012. It was replaced by new exams in four core subjects taken by all students in Grades 10-12.
By 2018, the exam program was replaced by literacy assessments in Grades 10 and 12, and a numeracy assessment at Grade 10. These are not related to specific courses, but address students’ ability to apply reading, writing and math concepts to real world situations.
Writing these tests is mandatory but meeting the performance standard is not required for graduation, which explains why some students do not take the tests seriously. It’s not clear if this program will survive the next minister.
A new K-12 Education Act would focus on student learning and would complement the School Act, which would continue to regulate the administration of schools.
One of the key pillars that would inform an education act are core educational purposes that prioritize intellectual skills and, in collaboration with parents and the community, the development of students as healthy and responsible human beings. Such an act would also help stabilize the focus of the school system.
An Education Act would govern key aspects of the learning system: the school curriculum, student assessment, report of student learning to parents, diagnosis and treatment of learning difficulties; school district planning and reporting of system outcomes and improvement plans.
It is generally understood that for complex organizations, such as the K-12 system, to function at optimal levels, all components of that organization should align with one another and focus on a common purpose.
What has been clear for many years now is that provincial governance is centred on administration, not student learning.
That needs to change.
