Dear parents,

The BC Teachers’ Federation is committed to communicating with parents about our public education system. By sharing the stories of teaching and learning about the work we do every day, we hope to highlight important issues facing BC’s schools. We value the insights that parents provide about the learning needs of their children. Many teachers are parents themselves, and all teachers understand how important communication between school and home is to help the students we all care so much about.

BCTF Advocacy for Public Education

Priorities for Public Education
The change of provincial government in 2017 brought a commitment to a whole new attitude on public education issues. It has provided an opportunity for teachers, through the BCTF, to review and make recommendations on issues and policies important to members and our students.

This brief was presented to the Ministry of Education in August 2017 and brings together a wide range of issues, providing background information and recommendations.

BCTF Education Funding Brief (Oct 2017)  
As in past years, the BCTF submitted a brief with recommendations to the Legislative Assembly's Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. Unlike many previous years, the seventeen recommendations this year focus on improvements to public education, rather than pleas to stop further deterioration of services.

Why school boards matter

Local school trustees are elected to serve and be responsible to their communities. When provincial governments fire entire school boards, replace them with appointees, and don’t even hold timely elections to allow local voters to have their say, our democratic traditions are undermined.

This short online resource details the top 10 reasons to maintain local, elected school boards in BC, the challenges that school boards face, and what can you do to help preserve school boards.

Curriculum change

Major changes are currently happening to curriculum in British Columbia’s education system. The BCTF believes that many of these changes are positive, although there remain outstanding concerns. For more information, please see our Curriculum page.

Parent Presentations

Last year we gave presentations to about 2,000 parents across the province. These workshops are short—approximately one-hour long. Presentations are available in English and in French. Some are specifically intended for Aboriginal parents. For more detailed information the workshops and booking procedures, please see the presentation descriptions and booking information page. 

Working together to make our schools healthy and safe

All BC students and school staff deserve to learn and work in healthy, safe environments. This 2016 brochure highlights important ongoing health and safety issues in our schools including water and air quality, seismic upgrades, and winter conditions. It provides ideas for those concerned to work together to ensure the ongoing health and safety of our children.

What BC parents need to know about student data and privacy

Concerns and Questions about BC’s Student Information System and Student Privacy
MyEducation BC is the new $100 million student information system of the Ministry of Education. Its introduction in this school year has seen huge problems, especially with its extremely slow operation. There are also a number of important questions about what information on students is being collected, and why. Read more...