[Vancouver B.C. – June 13, 2018] The British Columbia School Trustees Association is very supportive of the government’s recent move to invest more in the development of leaders within the K-12 public education system. The Association also looks forward to working with the sector’s various partner associations, along with government, to create a leadership development framework.
“As co-governors of BC’s public education system, we are very supportive of the government’s commitment to leadership development within the K-12 system. This action will have a significant, positive impact on students and staff for years to come,” said Gordon Swan, President of the BC School Trustees Association, as part of a release distributed by the Ministry of Education.
BCSTA is appreciative of the Ministry of Education’s move to provide improved opportunities for professional learning development over the next three years. Establishing strong leadership in public education will, in turn, benefit all of BC’s students.
“All of the management sector partners and the stakeholders they serve will benefit from this action,” added Swan in expanded comments. “Providing the leaders in public education with advanced professional development opportunities will afford the students in our collective care with more opportunity to meet their full potential. BC is known for its robust education system, and I am pleased to see that the government is seeking to build on that success rather than rest on past achievements by investing a total of $1.6 million over three years that will positively impact over 3,500 education leaders in BC’s public education system. BCSTA looks forward to continuing to build on these efforts and being a part of future growth and advancement of public education in our province.”
BCSTA aims to utilize this additional funding by offering further professional development opportunities to its member boards of education, which currently includes all 60 of BC’s boards. The move will further bolster BCSTA’s conferences, academies and special events featuring professional development components, and will also be incorporated into various other efforts, such as board performance reviews facilitated by the Association.
This action will create additional value for members, and will also build stronger, more resilient communities as a result. As the funds will impact all of the public education partner groups, BCSTA is enthused by the wide-reaching potential this targeted investment in leadership has for improving student outcomes in BC.