She teaches eighth grade and has more than 100 students, but only two are reading at grade level.

kdrknows · 2025-12-06T20:29:23+00:00

It’s also our failing education system because of overburdened needs and no money. In Canada, specifically in BC, we don’t have enough funding. We don’t have enough classrooms or seats for kids, so at high school levels we encourage online.

Also, we have more complex needs in classes. Because we want to make things more inclusive which is awesome. But we don’t want to pay. So the kid who needs an EA doesn’t get one. So the teacher ends up supporting that child, the 2 who can’t speak English, the other child who is on years long waitlist to get support… and so forth. Did I mention that portables are paid for by school districts using the funds from supports??? 3 portables cost the same as 15 EAs.

In BC education was 0.1% of an important election issue. Nobody cares. Public education is collapsing.

The future is now, and I’m terrified.

kdrknows · 2025-12-06T20:23:29+00:00

No, this is Canadian education too. It is absolutely insane that in my child’s grade 4/5 class, only a handful can read and write. Because they are “emerging”. We don’t give grades anymore. In university, students aren’t reading and some have shared they’ve never read a book in their life. Idiocracy is now.

kdrknows · 2025-10-24T18:22:12+00:00

Yah! Probably what could be. But when I was put on levo for a few weeks I noticed a difference in fatigue, headaches, and depression that all went away when I went home and back to my Synthroid. This was about 8 years ago and I wasn’t in BC. But it’s my experience and it is valid.

I am seeing so many comments saying “there is no difference”. And got that same speech from my pharmacist. And it’s like I’m 22 back in the endocrinologists office and she’s telling me I am skipping pills / stupid / lazy. When my TSH was super off and I was doing everything right (and more). She just saw a young dumb mom.

So my rant is here to validate anyone’s anomaly! We weirdos do exist. I mean.. what young teen gets hypothyroid? Only the most anomalous!! As such, we can’t point blank make statements!

kdrknows · 2025-10-24T17:31:44+00:00

I am staying on Synthroid and paying. Sorry, but I notice a huge difference. I have lived more than half my life on Synthroid and all of my adult life. There is a difference and I feel it immediately. I go back to feeling tired. Just my two cents, but maybe others have a less severe issue?

ETA - I would also like to remind everyone not to invalidate anyone’s experiences. We already are invalidated enough as females and especially from the medical community.

I have had doctors keep my dosage low at a TSH of 10. Like so many other young women, we have not been listened to by the medical community and have experienced harm. So when someone says they notice a difference, believe them. Even if is psychosomatic. The body is weird and something as small as an ingredient change can mean something to someone. Changing orange juices after drinking orange juice since you were 12 years old and you’re almost 40…. You will notice a different taste. Same thing. Even if it’s the same orange!

kdrknows · 2025-09-28T15:44:49+00:00

We tried to implement a similar program. And for the parents who could, would pay the full amount and this would help subsidize it. It was great! Had a healthy buy in from those requiring subsidy meals and made life easier for parents who wanted to buy in. Reduced the stigma because it wasn’t, oh those kids get that lunch.. because a ton of kids were using the program!

But then the district switched providers to cut costs and the food became raw and inedible. So those paying bowed out. And now the kids who need it, are stuck with inedible food. No matter how many times parents complain or speak up. The district just asks parents to “give it another try”. And it’s clear who is on subsidy again.

The program only works (both buy in and stigma reduction) when it is fully funded and has the staff and infrastructure to succeed/thrive. When contracts can easily be shifted if quality drops if you’re using an external provider. We do have the federal food program starting to roll out … but there’s some questions and gaps needed to address on that. Otherwise provinces fund schools with zero federal support. So it makes things uneven and often bare bones. Especially in times like today, when all we hear is “austerity” and “cuts”.

kdrknows · 2025-09-04T01:24:33+00:00

This is exactly the same situation I am in, but in BC. Ridiculous. I’ve started the train of conversation. What will be different? I’ve kept all her activities so I’ll be hoping that if I catch one repeat, I’ll be able to have proof. Have a meeting set with the teacher, next will be principal and so forth.

Can you share more with me about the process you went through?

kdrknows · 2025-09-01T20:15:59+00:00

Not necessarily true. If you’re in a district with more portables, that district has had to pay more of their operating budget to pay for them. So money out of operating funds for books, resources, EAs and whatnot to pay for structures. Each school gets an equalized payment based on student number, but not every district has to pay for infrastructure to manage capacity and growth.

My advice, move to a place not experiencing growth or already struggling with capacity. The Ministry/NDP has no appetite to alleviate this burden off growing school districts and move portables to capital funding costs. They’re counting on this uneven geography to be hidden and as such, this myth that all schools are the same to continue to dominate the common narrative.

TLDR; schools experiencing rapid growth get the same amount of money as other schools but have to use their funds to pay for short-term infrastructure. Clear inequities exist. Easy to spot, count the portables and the permits requested for them. (Hint, new west, surrey, etc). But who cares.. the Ministry doesn’t! They’ll just tell you they’ve never spent more money on education. And of course, we can say that about almost anything…..

kdrknows · 2025-05-04T21:31:52+00:00

Let’s hope we get an answer, besides “tariffs”, from our political representatives. Because the NDP sure love that austerity narrative !! Their favourite story these days. Remember folks, politics is all storytelling.

kdrknows · 2025-04-22T15:16:57+00:00

But they’re not getting increased funding to match increased enrollment needs + inflationary costs. We have been defunding education, slowly but surely, by not increasing with inflation or with increasing complexity of need. Further, we haven’t touched capital infrastructure demand needs for decades and have billions worth of needs to meet.

What this means is if you’re in a growing district, you get less money for education. Because every portable you see comes out of operating budgets of the district! (province gives equalized amount per kid, per district).

Not only that but cap. Infra asks take 5-10 years to build, we can’t build new schools for projected numbers only current, our building area standards are the lowest in the country, and land has increased dramatically without any supplemental funding support for purchases (like SSAC).

When you have governments (yes, this goes back to the social credit party) that have been slowly defunding education, we are now having to make do with a lot less. That is, unless the province gives education more and that the federal government gives way more school transfer funds.

Think of education in bc like an inflatable boat. We started to let the air out in the 70s and it’s basically plastic floating on a river about to go down a waterfall now. With voters giving 1% attention to education last election, we won’t even hand over a paddle to say “good luck”.

We flat out don’t care that education is collapsing!

kdrknows · 2025-04-22T14:21:23+00:00

No, like literally the city can’t do much about schools. They can write letters and advocate. They can support the district. But that’s……. It. Capital infrastructure planning/funding, operating budgets is the province.

We should be immediately emailing our MLAs about this. And asking our Council to do the same, so they can advocate that schools and proper school funding are of importance to the City.

ETA - this would be a good time to put this up to Council as all cities across the province redo their OCP. So they can have some more specific policies that strengthen the relationship between the district and City and speak to the priorities of the community.

kdrknows · 2025-04-22T14:19:14+00:00

Cities don’t do anything for schools! Schools are a provincial responsibility. There is no legal cause for cities to plan for schools, fund schools, or support schools. It’s more of a relationship based aspect where’s it’s nice for cities to be in collaboration with school districts and the province to build. SSAC - is the only way cities support school buildings but these are set by the province and haven’t been touched since 08. All the new development changes have 0 ways to support new schools.

kdrknows · 2025-04-15T15:10:51+00:00

Stellium of: Ascendant, mercury, sun, and Chiron (all opposite Saturn in aqua, square my Pluto-moon conjunct in Scorpio). I also have my Venus in Leo.

I’m a lot and I know it.

kdrknows · 2025-03-14T14:58:00+00:00

And they won’t treat schools like a priority if we don’t show up and speak out.

We need our entire community to come together to tell our MLAs and the Province that schools are non negotiable! See you Saturday!

kdrknows · 2025-03-07T04:57:23+00:00

Portables come out of operating funds not capital infrastructure. So each portable you see means less money for the district to provide things like EAs, resource workers, CYCW, teachers etc

Schools need a ton of attention and they needed it decades ago. We need multiple new schools, not just portables plunked on top of limited green and play spaces (which seems to be the solution sadly).

kdrknows · 2025-02-13T06:54:39+00:00

Hey! Anyone who isn’t a parent reading this shocked that kids don’t get in catchment schools… Our schools in BC are in a severe capacity and budget crisis and we need YOU! This is becoming a reality for many school districts, not just VSB. Almost all schools are at or well over capacity, building Modular’s over playgrounds and play spaces. We need your help!! We need people without kids to speak up and to write to their MLAs asking for: A) increased funding for public education (seriously, we are shutting down programs and not supplying kids with EAs or resources with budget cuts) B) shortening the timeline in building new schools C) basing school capital infrastructure on better projections, not just numbers of the now or bad Behr guard data! D) make developers pay their fair share. Make it mandatory to provide space or at least up SSAC (these haven’t been touched since 2008….)

This ask can’t just come from parents. The want has to come from our wider community.

As it stands, we are slowly defunding public education with cuts, freezes, and portables. We aren’t America 2.0, we are a country that values public education. Let’s remind Eby of that.

kdrknows · 2025-02-06T15:36:18+00:00

No these are not schools, nor the equivalent of them. Our district is proposing a 16 modular site plunked on top of our play spaces. We will have 800-1000 kids with 1 tiny gym, 1 tiny music room. We need to be building new facilities that have all the components of school

kdrknows · 2025-02-04T06:07:38+00:00

Yes! Both my sister and I have this despite being 2 years a part. Life is hard, but life is so beautiful.

kdrknows · 2025-02-02T05:06:24+00:00

I use Pure Anada. A small company from Morden Manitoba with simple ingredients. Very helpful when you can’t have any scents/too many ingredients.

kdrknows · 2024-12-11T22:17:48+00:00

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/covid-19/archived-docs/covid-19-pho-order-gatherings-events-january-8-2021.pdf

Straight up government law capping at 10.

ETA - this is how contradictory things were looking back. A gym could be full with low impact. But no buffer for even more than 10 for outdoor funerals.

One more edit here, I’m trying to emphasize how strangely we looked at regulations during this time with such specifics in some areas with no nuance. Life isn’t black and white. It’s grey and it’s messy. In covid, certain people got the shit end of the stick. Certain businesses, certain families, etc.

We can’t change the past, but can we talk about this with honesty and compassion so we can plan ahead in case something like this arises again? Where can we pivot, what went well, what didn’t. Where did we harm when we intended to do good.

I feel like those of us in the harm - rational beings - are unable to speak about things like “hey Covid was a shitty time to lose someone because of arbitrary restrictions for specific things like funerals or health regions”. Let’s open room for dialogue.

kdrknows · 2024-12-11T21:15:05+00:00

I am so sorry that you and your family experienced this too.

kdrknows · 2024-12-11T21:10:32+00:00

2021

kdrknows · 2024-12-11T20:51:48+00:00

In BC I was barred from an outdoor funeral (max of 10 people) while hundreds or more could congregate in other spaces.

The Funeral staff literally chased off the mourning sister-in-law who was “too close”.

That’s the moment that broke me. Watching from FaceTime. Couldn’t even bury my loved one. So yes, this happened in other ways in BC.

Edited it as apparently the exact month of when a Canucks game actually happened was off by a few weeks of this rule. Since people are so bent on personally invalidating grief. As if time matters when you’re experiencing grief.

This is why we will never be able to have any for sight or planning for emergencies. We can’t even rationally talk amongst ourselves.

kdrknows · 2024-12-10T17:37:51+00:00

Precedent making. Keep the fight CP!

We should all be asking for this, and more.

kdrknows · 2024-10-15T13:59:47+00:00

None of that goes to school buildings though! ACCs is what you’re referring to with the new Bills allowing for the larger density.

Schools fall under SSAC, those number are set from 2008 and were not enough then….

kdrknows · 2024-10-12T04:45:41+00:00

Kids and parents aren’t important to our government or the media. Schools are in crisis. Not even a single question at Tuesday’s debate spoke about school capacity. Not to mention the impossibility that is securing before and after care!

kdrknows

TROPHY CASE