Surrey's Catch-22 funding problems

The Tyee has published my article BC's Biggest School District Faces Cuts as Enrolment Grows. Excerpt:

The irony is hard to miss: While most B.C. school districts have lost funding because of declining enrolments, a few are growing -- none more than Surrey. Yet Surrey's growing student numbers are only compounding its funding problems. 

After decades as a semi-rural suburb, Surrey has become the biggest school district in the province, with 67,293 students this year. (Vancouver has about 56,000.) 

Surrey has 99 elementary schools, 19 secondaries, five student learning centres and four adult education centres. The district is Surrey's biggest single employer, with about 5,000 teachers and 3,700 other employees. Its estimated operating budget this year is about $545 million dollars. But that's not quite enough.