The good news is that BC voters have some very strongly held views when it comes to education. Simply put, they place a very high value on programs and funding that provide high quality learning opportunities, whether it's at the primary, secondary or post-secondary level. Those were some of the obvious conclusions drawn from a Mustel Group poll that was released today by the Coalition for Public Education.

FPSE is one of the partners in that Coalition and like others in the group we wanted to gauge the public's priorities in advance of the Spring legislative session and the tabling of the 2009 provincial budget on February 17. The Coalition, which includes representatives from student organizations as well as educators in both the K-12 and post-secondary systems, wants to engage the public in a more active and detailed discussion of education issues over the coming months. Through open debate and greater public dialogue on this issue, we hope to identify better solutions for our sector and our students.

The compelling part of the Mustel poll data is the degree to which British Columbians are prepared to support education issues. For example, about two-thirds of respondents support a budget deficit if the deficit spending targets programs and funding in education. Clearly, a strong majority of voters see education as a mainstay of government spending priorities, not something that you only do when there is a surplus.

The Mustel poll also confirms what FPSE and student organizations have been saying for many years: skyrocketing tuition fees are a barrier to post-secondary education. According to Mustel, 70 percent of respondents listed high tuition fees as a reason for not advancing their post-secondary education.

Within the last week, Premier Campbell began to significantly shift ground on the issue of budget deficits. His long-held view that deficits were unacceptable was beginning to lose credibility in a world in which governments of all political stripes were taking dramatic steps to deal with the current economic crisis. The pressure on Campbell to take similar action has forced him to accept something that he had previously disavowed: deficit spending.

Unfortunately, there is still a sizeable gap between what Premier Campbell is prepared to do and what the Mustel poll is telling the government to do. The Premier wants to focus spending on "shovel ready" capital projects, a move that completely ignores the crying need to support the operating budgets of institutions that deliver public programs. That disconnect could prove to be a very critical difference when it comes to delivering a meaningful provincial budget on February 17. All eyes will be on Victoria to see just how much the Premier and his Finance Minister have been listening.