THE BC Teachers’ Federation Membership Survey of more than 4,000 public school teachers highlights that urgent action is needed to ensure safe schools where the diverse intellectual, psychological, and social needs of BC students can be properly met.

Results showed that fewer than one quarter of teachers felt that students’ academic (23.7%) and social and emotional (23.4%) needs were being completely or very much met. When it comes to students with disabilities or diverse needs, only 13% of teachers feel that these students’ needs are being met.

“A fundamental principle of our system is inclusion. Every child has an equal right to public education,” said BCTF President Clint Johnston on Wednesday. “But the funding for inclusive education services is woefully inadequate in BC. For years, our school districts have had to spend far more on inclusive education than they receive from Victoria.”

In 2023–24, for example, government funding only covered 72% of what school districts actually spent to provide inclusive education services, leaving a $340-million funding gap that had to be covered out of core operational funding. In some cases, however, that’s not possible. All too often, administrators are compelled to tell parents their children cannot go to school on a given day because there simply aren’t enough staff to ensure proper support, safety, and learning.

“Exclusion from school is profoundly unfair to students and deeply demoralizing to parents and teachers,” Johnston said, noting that BC’s Ombudsperson has launched an investigation into this trend.

During the election campaign last autumn, the BC New Democrats promised that, if elected, they would ensure an education assistant in every primary classroom and a mental health counsellor in every school. The survey results highlight how far from reality those promises remain:

• Almost four out of five (79.7%) Kindergarten to Grade 3 classroom teachers said that they did not currently have any class-assigned education assistant support.
• One out of six teachers (16.7%) reported that there was no mental health counsellor assigned to their school.

“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,” Johnston said.

The underfunding of public schools and consequent lack of supports are having serious impacts on teachers as well. Overall, 15% of BC public school teachers reported that they have personally experienced workplace violence during the 2024–25 school year—some on a daily basis! As one teacher shared: “Schools feel unsafe, violence and aggressive language are being normalized, and even strong experienced teachers are struggling. Student learning is becoming less of a focus.”

Johnston said: “This is not about individual behavior. This is not inevitable. It is the violence of austerity and the result of years of underfunding of BC’s public education system. When children don’t have the services they need to thrive at school, their behaviours are urgent pleas for help.”

At a time when the shortage of teachers is severe, it’s concerning that this year’s survey found half of teachers (50.6%) reported increases to their workload. And, echoing last year’s survey, 14% of respondents said it is very or somewhat unlikely they will still be teaching in two years’ time. And one out of seven teachers (14.2%) reported that their mental health was currently very poor or poor.

“BC’s teacher shortage must be understood as a crisis in working conditions,” the report states. “As retaining qualified teachers continues to be a critical challenge in many parts of the province, addressing the teacher shortage must include improving working conditions.”

Using a random sample methodology, the survey aimed to build a provincially representative picture of BC teachers’ experiences during the 2024–25 school year. In all, 4,070 teachers responded: 70% have 10 or more years of teaching experience and 13% are in their first four years of their career. Beyond standard teacher certification requirements, 38% of respondents also have a master’s degree. The survey was conducted online from February 10–28. The overall margin of error for the sample is +/- 1.5%, 19 times out of 20.