B.C. teachers say student needs not being met, cite ‘chronic underfunding’

The union representing B.C. teachers says a recent survey of its membership shows educators are burning out and students aren’t getting the support they need due to “chronic underfunding.”

The survey of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s (BCTF) 14,000 members found that fewer than a quarter of teachers believe their students academic and social and emotional needs are being met in the classroom.

4:16
BCTF calls on B.C. to lead the way in public education

The union says almost 80 per cent of members teaching in K-3 classrooms said they did not currently have an education assistant (EA) assigned, and that one in six teachers said their school had no mental health counsellor.

That’s despite an election pledge from the governing NDP to provide an EA for all primary classrooms and counsellors for every school.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

“It’s not difficult to see how without education assistants to help in the classroom and without counsellors to confide in when they’re troubled, students’ behaviour can become dysregulated,” BCTF president Clint Johnston said.

The union argues that provincial funding for special education services currently funds just 72 per cent of what schools spend to provide inclusive services, leaving administrators to spend operating funding to fill what it estimates is a $340 million gap, or worse, to exclude kids with higher needs.

2:42
Vancouver teacher shortage diverting education assistants, impacting families

It says schools have increasingly told parents to keep their children home on days when there aren’t enough support staff — a trend B.C.’s Ombudsperson is now investigating. 

“Exclusion from school is profoundly unfair to students and deeply demoralizing to parents and teachers,” Johnston said.

The survey also revealed troubling trends in the province’s effort to recruit and retain teachers.

Fifteen per cent of the respondents said they’d faced workplace violence during this school year.

More than half said they’d seen their workload increase this year, and one in seven said their mental health was currently poor or very poor.

Fourteen per cent of teachers told the union they were somewhat or very unlikely to stick with the job over the next two years.

Global News is seeking comment from the Education Minister to the union’s concerns.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.