Vaughn Palmer: Blast from the past: B.C. NDP embraces report cards it scrapped in the 1990s

VICTORIA — When the New Democrats scrapped letter grades for much of the K-12 school system recently, they embraced a reform they had vigorously rejected during their time in government in the 1990s.

The change was part of The Year 2000, a broader reform prompted by a Royal Commission that spoke of “nurturing the positive self-esteem of all learners” and “empowering the child.”

“Challenge is the one word that is not used in the program,” it declared. “The call to excellence should come from the self, not from outside.”

Harcourt’s first education minister, Anita Hagen, a school teacher from New Westminster, went along with the shift and defended the Year 2000 plan for the NDP’s 1½ year in government.