The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) is clamouring for changes after a report released by the Ministry of Education shows there now are 16,156 classes with four or more students with special needs in the public education system.
BCTF president Jim Iker says the report highlights continued problems with class composition, with a “staggering” 3,895 classes having seven or more children with special needs – 20 more than seen in last year’s classrooms.
A ministry release points to successful transition rates, including for special needs, and notes there are now fewer classes with three or less of these students in them, and more with four or more.
“This shift reflects a move towards grouping students with similar learning needs, so districts can make better use of specialist teachers and educational assistants, and an increase in specialized courses specifically designed to help students with learning challenges or special needs,” the press release states.
Locally, Cariboo-Chilcotin Teachers’ Association (CCTA) president Murray Helmer says a better system would see more teacher assistants, who usually have a one-to-one or small group capacity to address these students’ needs in the classroom, rather than challenging teachers to cope.
“Because the move is to individualized instruction, the greater the diversity in a classroom the harder that is to achieve … if we had more classrooms in a school that could accommodate special needs in smaller numbers, then I think the success rate would be a lot higher.”
Helmer says special needs students are integrated into regular classrooms in School District #27.
“The school district wants to have schools full to capacity, and in doing so, they are making sure that all the classrooms are used and class sizes are close to maxed out, especially in elementary schools.”
This leaves fewer options and a higher concentration of special needs children per classroom, with less teacher supports than there were prior to contract language stripped in 2002, he adds.
“If you could have smaller class sizes, you would have more opportunities; there would be more than one Grade 5 class, for example, or a 4/5 with a 5/6 so … these students could be spread out a bit.”
The solution comes down to “ensuring there is full support” for teachers, yet this year saw fewer educational assistants when layoffs occurred after the teachers returned to work last fall, he notes.
Helmer says he agrees with Iker’s statement that this situation in classrooms would have “deteriorated even further” had teachers not taken such a strong stand and “fought so hard” for the $75-million Teacher Education Fund.
While the funds are used specifically for special education teachers, it was a lot less than what was asked for and “minor compared to the need,” he says.
“In our district, it is just over $800,000, and by the time you factor in benefit costs and salary costs, you are looking at [about] nine or 10 full-time teachers….
“That [contract] language needs to return and those services need to return.”
