About
British Columbia’s education sector employs tens of thousands of people just like you. While many of these positions are held in classrooms throughout the province, an astonishing 25,000 employees contribute as support staff. Read on and you will find out more about the many exciting opportunities in BC’s public education sector.
Teachers and Administrator Positions
Most education professionals begin their careers as teachers-on-call (substitute teachers or temporary teachers). Teachers interested in management generally start as classroom teachers and progress into school based administration positions, becoming either principals or vice-principals.
School based administrators interested in district-based positions often become Directors of Instruction or Assistant Superintendents. Amongst the district positions, none is higher than the Superintendent of Schools. As the Chief Executive Officer of the school district, the Superintendent of Schools is responsible for the organization, administration, supervision and evaluation of all educational programs, the operation of schools, and the overall supervision and direction of the district’s staff.
In BC, teachers are members of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation: the union representing teachers within BC’s K-12 public education sector. Principals, vice-principals and other management positions are not unionized.
Management Positions
Every school district in BC has a corporate administration team that is responsible for the overall operation of the school district. Corporate administration duties include financial management, human resources, maintenance, facilities management, purchasing and information technology. In smaller districts, one employee may be responsible for one or more of these areas. Larger districts generally have departments of employees responsible for each of these areas.
Corporate level positions include Secretary Treasurer, Accountant, Director of Human Resources, Manager of Payroll, Maintenance Supervisor and many more.
Support Staff Positions
British Columbia’s K-12 public education sector employs nearly 25,000 support staff employees. These employees provide valuable and necessary support to ensure the smooth operation of the school, the district, and the sector as a whole. Support staff positions have a wide range, varying from trades and maintenance workers to teacher assistants, clerical, accounting, and IT.
Generally, support staff employees in BC are unionized. There are a number of unions. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) represents the majority of these employees.
