FAQs
Public education in British Columbia is increasingly shaped by scarcity—not only of funding, but of time, care, and institutional will. For families raising disabled and neurodivergent children, this scarcity is not an abstract budgetary concern; it is a daily reality with profound consequences. When resources are rationed, inclusion becomes conditional. Supports are delayed, denied, or delegated to parents, while schools revert to exclusionary practices that punish difference rather than accommodate it.
This FAQ addresses common questions about how underfunding affects educational access, why so many families find themselves navigating a system that feels adversarial, and what a truly inclusive, adequately resourced school system could look like. It is grounded in lived experience, informed by policy analysis, and driven by a single, urgent conviction: all children deserve to learn without discrimination.
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A genuine needs-based model would: Most of all, it would reject the logic that children must first fail, be harmed, or be excluded before receiving help.
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Yes, and no—a lot of money is needed, but it’s also about political priorities. British Columbia’s education funding has failed to keep pace with inflation, enrolment growth, and the increasing complexity of student needs. The provincial government claims to be spending more than ever, but these numbers often obscure real declines in per-student funding, especially
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When supports are unavailable, neurodivergent students are expected to function in environments not built for them—without accommodations, understanding, or safety. They may be labelled as “disruptive,” blamed for their distress, or excluded from the classroom altogether. Families are left to navigate crisis after crisis, often paying out of pocket for private assessments, therapies, or supervision
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Engineered scarcity refers to the deliberate under-resourcing of public institutions—especially those that serve structurally marginalised people—under the pretence that there is simply “not enough to go around.” This logic of austerity reshapes public expectations, lowers standards, and normalises systemic neglect. In education, engineered scarcity shows up as:
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Because inclusion cannot be implemented on goodwill alone. For disabled and neurodivergent students to participate fully in school life, they need access to staffing, services, and accessible environments—none of which come free. When funding falls short, those needs are triaged or deferred. The result is not mere inconvenience: it is discrimination. In British Columbia, the