BCEdAccess Society is a registered charitable organization serving families of students with disabilities and complex learners all over the province of British Columbia. Our parent peer support group has over 6000 community members, and we provide information and support for individual families, educators and organizations about the human right to equitable access to education, as well as advocating to the government for systemic change.
Mission
Our mission is to support equitable access to public education for students with disabilities and complex learners in British Columbia.
Vision
Our vision is a just and equitable education system across K-12 public schools where children learn and thrive.
Our Purpose
To advance education by:
- Connecting families of disabled children with advocacy resources, information, and supports that enable them to navigate the public education system effectively.
- Providing rights-based information to families, including education rights, complaint processes, and advocacy pathways.
- Engaging in systemic advocacy and challenging structural ableism.
- Through our outreach activities (Facebook group, social media, & blog), we are alleviating the isolation and suffering of parents and caregivers by providing an opportunity to connect and share information.
Values
We honour the lived experience of our families and amplify their voices to steer our advocacy. We centre the voices of the disability community.
Education is a colonial project, designed to exclude, and to sever Indigenous children and youth from their language and culture. We are committed to enacting the pushing for enactment of the calls to action from the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
We recognize that systemic racism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination, socioeconomic disparities, and educational inequities have and continue to disproportionately harm the most systemically oppressed communities. We seek to address these historic and contemporary inequities in how we work with each other and those we serve. We seek to hold public education systems accountable in order to make them more equitable and accessible. We want everyone to be heard, valued, and respected and to feel a sense of belonging. We want students and families to not just survive, but thrive.
Advocacy goals
Our current advocacy focus includes the following:
- Require public disclosure of the legal expenditures school districts and the Ministry of Education direct toward opposing families of disabled children in human rights and legal complaint processes.
- Equip families with clear, accessible information about complaint and escalation processes so they can move beyond informal advocacy when their children are being harmed.
- Empower and support parents with their IEP advocacy
- Inclusion of students with disabilities in the Ministerial Mandate Letter
- Communicating with interestholders regarding inequities around meaningful inclusion, for example: Office of the Ombudsperson BC, Office of the BC Human Rights Commissioner, and school districts regarding budgets.
- Using blogs as a way to share information and elevate the advocacy labour.
- Use Freedom of Information (FOI) requests as a way to access information to elevate our advocacy.
Our History
Our story began when a small group of parents gathered together in a Facebook group around the end of 2014. Tracy Humphreys set up this group because although she was able to find many great organizations of parents working together to support specific disabilities, there was none that gathered all of the parents together to discuss the issues that all of these groups have in common in trying to access education for their children. The group was fortunate to have some very strong and long-term parent advocates join as founding members, setting the tone and direction of the organization that has continued to today.
On November 21, 2018, after seeing that the need for this group is ongoing, we incorporated BCEdAccess Society, registration number S0070334. We became a registered charity in early 2020. Our charity number is 723648317 RR0001.
We champion and support children and youth who have disabilities and who are complex learners to reach their full potential in BC education, and in all aspects of their lives. This is achieved through supporting families, sharing information, providing education to families, allies, professionals and students, providing community engagement and awareness, and other activities to promote equitable access to education and inclusion for all.
If you are a parent or guardian in British Columbia looking for support, knowledge and information regarding inclusive education in our Province, please find our online peer support group on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/BCEdAccess and request to join. You can also email secretary@bcedaccess.com any time with questions. To learn more about what we do and to get involved, please visit this post.
HELP EMPOWER FAMILIES AND KEEP EQUITY AT THE HEART OF THE EDUCATION CONVERSATION
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