For BC teachers and education workers
This year BC budgeted $604.5 million for private schools, and the province paid only about $3 of every $4 districts spent on inclusive education. You see that missing dollar in your classroom every day. Here's the data behind it.
503 people have signed the pledge.
The data
Every year, more public money goes to private schools in BC. These are the province's own budget numbers.
Up 69% in ten years.
Sources: BC Ministry of Education service plans, 2017, 2022, 2024, 2026. Budgeted amounts.
2024/25. What went to private schools, next to what public schools were short on inclusive education.
Sources: BC Service Plan 2024, p. 20; BCTF inclusive education infographic.
Districts have to find the fourth dollar somewhere else in their budget. It comes out of other things students need.
2024/25: the province covered 75.8% of what districts spent, about $317 million short. Source: BCTF, January 2026.
Numbers last checked October 2026. Every number links to its source, and the full list is at the bottom of the page.
Why it matters
Public schools take every student, every need, every neighbourhood. Private schools set their own tuition and admissions. Public money should follow the system that serves everyone.
When the province pays $3 of every $4 for inclusive education, the fourth dollar comes out of other budget lines. That's the support teachers and EAs don't get, and the students who wait.
Every public dollar that helps a private tuition school builds a two-tier system, one for families who can pay and one for everyone else.
Many families leave public schools because their child wasn't safe or supported. We don't blame them. We want public schools funded so every student is safe and supported there.
Take action
Tell the people who set school budgets where public money should go. Pick who you are and who you're writing to. Two minutes.
1. I'm writing as
2. I'm writing to
3. Add your name
4. Make it yours and send
Who stands with us
Teachers' union leaders, trustees and elected officials from across BC have signed the pledge.
As of October 2026. Titles are listed for identification only.
Questions
Budgets get written every year. The next BC budget comes in February. Teachers, locals and trustees can keep asking until public money goes to public schools.
No. Private schools can keep operating. We're asking that public money stay in public schools, where every student gets in.
No. First Nations schools are run by First Nations and funded mainly by the federal government. This pledge is about provincial grants to private tuition schools.
Not affected. Registered homeschool families get no public funding. Public online schools are public education.
It's bigger than the gap. In 2024/25, $571 million was budgeted for private schools while districts were about $317 million short on inclusive education.
They do, but they pay no property tax on those buildings, and since 2015 none on their fields, parking lots or dorms. Donors to building campaigns get charitable tax receipts. The public still chips in.
It's about public money. Families can choose any school. The question is whether public dollars should follow them there.
That's why we're doing this. The province paid only about $3 of every $4 districts spent on inclusive education. Public money should fix that first.
Teachers, parents and neighbours: RECESS and the Coalition for Public Education. Contact: recesscollective@pm.me
BC Ministry of Education. (2017). Ministry of Education 2017/18 to 2019/20 service plan (p. 18). Government of British Columbia. bcbudget.gov.bc.ca
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2022). Ministry of Education and Child Care 2022/23 to 2024/25 service plan (p. 15). Government of British Columbia. bcbudget.gov.bc.ca
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2024). Ministry of Education and Child Care 2024/25 to 2026/27 service plan (p. 20). Government of British Columbia. bcbudget.gov.bc.ca
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2025). Ministry of Education and Child Care 2024/25 annual service plan report (p. 22). Government of British Columbia. bcbudget.gov.bc.ca
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2026). Ministry of Education and Child Care 2026/27 to 2028/29 service plan (p. 11). Government of British Columbia. bcbudget.gov.bc.ca
BC Teachers' Federation. (2026, January 20). BC's inclusive education funding gap. bctf.ca (infographic: PDF)
Hemingway, A. (2022, September 21). BC private schools to collect $491 million in public funding this year. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office. policyalternatives.ca
Longhurst, A. (2026, April 16). Public funding for B.C.'s private schools is indefensible. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. policyalternatives.ca
Property Taxation (Exemptions) Statutes Amendment Act, 2015 (Bill 29), amending Community Charter, SBC 2003, c. 26, s. 220. leg.bc.ca