Issue Brief: Critical Underfunding of BC’s Public Education

By
in Advocacy on

Key Message

The provincial government is underfunding school districts for

  • economic inflation costs
  • the inflationary impact on collective agreements and increased benefits costs
  • new schools, capital projects, and building maintenance

The Issue

The real costs of delivering public education in BC have significantly outpaced government funding. School districts are being forced to cut essential programs and services to meet the legal requirement to balance their budgets, even as needs like mental health support, food programs, and services for diverse learners grow. This is not budget mismanagement by school districts, it is structural underfunding by the province.

Underfunding for Inflation

Inflation has significantly eroded the purchasing power of districts. Districts have absorbed new mandates, growing student complexity, and faced rising insurance costs—all without matching funding increases.

Some districts estimate the system is underfunded by about 15% compared to 2021 due to inflationary pressures. This gap is burning out staff, reducing supports, and harming educational quality. Fund education to reflect the real-world costs of delivering it.

Underfunding for Collective Agreements

School districts continue to face significant cost pressures from previously negotiated collective agreements. While earlier agreements provided important improvements, the cost of delivering them has risen sharply due to inflation, rising insurance premiums, and escalating sick leave costs since the pandemic.

These pressures have not been fully recognized or funded by the province. Fully funding collective agreements for their entire validity period must include the true, inflation-adjusted cost of delivering them, not just the negotiated wages.

Underfunding for Capital Costs

The BC government has allocated $4.6 billion over three years for capital projects, but the 25 largest districts alone identified $12.25 billion in capital needs. Projected deferred maintenance across BC adds another $9 billion.

Districts must also fund short-term portables from operating budgets, further draining resources from classrooms. Capital underfunding worsens operational strain and leaves students and staff paying the price and creates unrecognized inequities between districts across the province.