The province of B.C. appears to be talking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to education.
On the one hand, Education Minister Peter Fassbender says the province can't afford to go back to class size and composition rules that were in place prior to 2002; on the other, Tuesday's throne speech made re-engineering education to fill jobs of the future its key plank.
Education is expensive. Equipment, schools and teachers are expensive. But the investment is worth it to guarantee a prosperous economy.
While it's true that education funding has increased while enrolment has declined, it's no less complicated nor less expensive to create optimal learning conditions for students in today's environment.
For example, the transition to the digital school will be necessary in the next decade but many school districts are unprepared for that eventuality.
As well, we now understand that children's learning needs are more diverse and to ensure they get the support they need we need skilled, motivated teachers.
To achieve these goals, the province should work with the teachers for optimum class size and composition to fit resources rather than continually opposing them.
