What are the implications for how British Columbians value and organize provincial public education?
The stance one takes regarding entrepreneurial public school boards operating offshore schools depends on how one fundamentally thinks of education: “If you think of school as a private market rather than a community good, priorities shift” (Kuehn, L. 2003). It is very clear that education is viewed as a marketable and measurable resource by the B.C. Liberal party, and the language used in their “New Era” policies reflects this approach. Business buzzwords are being used by the Ministry of Education like “accountability”, “efficiency”, “assessment and quality control”, “outputs and inputs” and “entrepreneurial”. In the ‘Knowledge Economy’ students and parents are viewed as consumers making choices and buying education packages, teachers are the service providers, principals are the managers, school boards are entrepreneurs, and of course, education is the commodity to buy, trade and sell. B.C.’s Education Minister has been quoted in The Globe and Mail using the word commodity to descri
