I am writing to express the support of the Surrey Board of Trade for Frank Bucholtz’s concerns over the underfunding of education in Surrey, as he wrote in a recent column.
We were truly surprised, however, that he was unaware of the efforts of the business community, through the Surrey Board of Trade, to bring greater profile to the problem, as indicated in his closing comment, that it was “high time that the school district received more backing from city council, business groups, education groups and citizens in general.”
On Oct. 19, 2010 we launched Education Today/Productivity Tomorrow, the education funding shortfall awareness campaign, prepared by the Surrey Board of Trade jointly with School District #36, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Simon Fraser University, and the City of Surrey.
This event was very well covered at the time by radio, television and print media, including The Leader.
For many years now, the Surrey Board of Trade has advocated on these specific concerns when addressing the many standing committees of finance of the B.C. government (in preparation of their budgets).
We have also expressed these funding concerns on various occasions to members of the legislature and we raised this once more directly with senior officials of the ministry of education when we visited them in Victoria this past spring.
The coalition continues to work to keep this issue before the legislators, as well as the public, and we certainly appreciate any additional help in moving the case forward. For more information on Education Today/Productivity Tomorrow, go to our website at www.businessinsurrey.com
Nigel Watkinson, President
Surrey Board of Trade