Premier Gordon Campbell took to the airwaves this evening to announce three steps for improving public education in B.C.—none of which were replacing school boards with regional education authorities.

“Right now in British Columbia one out of five students who complete Grade 4 don’t read, write or have math skills at a Grade 4 level. That’s really not good enough for any of us, and it’s important for us to find ways to help that 20 per cent of students do better. We know the answer is to invest in early childhood learning,” Campbell said during his address.

Campbell did announce three steps for improving public education outcomes in the province: opening more Strong Start Centres, implementing full-day kindergarten province-wide, and making sure by the time kids reach Grade 4 they are all learning at the Grade 4 level.

The Premier also announced an early childhood learning assessment of every five year-old in kindergarten in order to determine their educational needs and tailor programming to meet them. There was no mention of the early childhood education initiative for three and four-year-olds announced in this year’s throne speech.

The Tyee had previously reported on rumours the Premier would use the address to announce the replacement of school boards with regional education authorities, similar to the province’s regional health authorities. This was not mentioned during the address.