Wednesday November 20, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The new Minister of Education and Child Care is Lisa Beare.
She was appointed to the position during the cabinet swearing-in on November 18 at Government House in Victoria.
Beare will be supported in that role by Jodie Wickens, Minister of State for Child Care and Children and Youth with Support Needs.
Beare has previously been Minister of Post Secondary and Future Skills (2024), and before that Minister of Citizens’ Services (2020-2024) and Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport (2017 to 2020, then again briefly from September to December 2022 after MLA Melanie Mark stepped down). Before provincial politics Beare was a school board trustee for a few years.
Beare has a friendly smile and stands out in a crowd. She has a no-nonsense way of getting things done and is likely to bring an organized and focussed approach to management of the K-12 education system.
Wickens was first elected in 2017, lost in 2020, and has now been reelected in the recent October 2024 election. She emerged into community leadership through championing for the rights of children with special needs.
Both Beare and Wickens are parents.
Education issues:
The key issue for most BC school districts is having enough classroom space for a growing population of students.
Then of course having enough funds to properly run school districts and schools; salaries are usually about 85% of a school district’s operating expense, with the rest left up to elected boards of school trustees to assign across education delivery in classrooms.
In the past few years there have been complaints about the SOGI-related curriculum. Eby and the NDP will defend that content delivery in schools but as the legislative assembly gets rolling in 2025 can expect pushback from the new BC Conservative Official Opposition. It’s likely that one of the reasons former Education Minister Rachna Singh lost her seat in the October 2024 election was because of not handling the SOGI issue in any way; the NDP just refused to deal with it.
Student mental health is a concern, which school boards handle to varying degrees with the hiring of counsellors and operating a range of peer support programs.
Teacher retention is a gnawing concern given the difficult teaching environments in many schools.
Child care was added to the education ministry in 2022. There is still a lot of work to do for incorporating child care spaces within K-12 schools — not just facility space but also the training and retention of Early Childhood Education personnel.
BCTF weighs in:
Immediately upon completion of the November 18 cabinet swearing-in, the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) issued a news release to welcome Lisa Beare as the new Minister of Education and Child Care.
“On behalf of BC’s 50,000 public school teachers, I want to warmly congratulate Lisa Beare on her appointment to lead the Ministry of Education and Child Care,” said BCTF President Clint Johnston.
“We look forward to introducing Minister Beare to the amazing work of our members across the province, and to working collaboratively on key issues, including the urgent teacher shortage and the need for a funded workforce strategy to address recruitment and retention,” said Johnston.
While they couldn’t come out and say it directly, BCTF encouraged all their members to vote and indirectly encouraged support for the election and re-election of BC NDP candidates during the 2024 provincial election campaign in September and October.
Fast-growing school districts:
The fastest-growing school district is in SD36 Surrey in the Greater Vancouver area with presently 130 schools.
The fastest-growing school district population on Vancouver Island is SD62 with most of their 27 schools located in Langford, Colwood and Sooke.
There are four school districts on South Vancouver Island: SD61 Greater Victoria, SD62 Sooke/Westshore, SD63 Saanich, and SD79 Cowichan Valley.
===== RELATED:
- Eby’s cabinet: tight at the top along with cross-ministry combos (November 19, 2024)
- Premier Eby appoints his cabinet for the 43rd BC Parliament (November 18, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: EDUCATION | K-12 EDUCATION