Over the past several months, news headlines have been filled with stories that illustrate the realities of an underfunded public education system. All across British Columbia (BC), school districts are facing "tough budget decisions" and gaping budget shortfalls. BC continues to fall behind other provinces in funding. Funding for inclusive education, a key value of our provincial education system, remains woefully inadequate. The lack of investment into teacher recruitment and retention remains a chronic challenge that undermines the foundations of education in BC. To address these compounding challenges, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) respectfully submits the following three recommendations that are presented in this report for the 2023 provincial budget to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services: (1) Abandon the current path of austerity and increase educational funding to meet the real, identified needs of classrooms, schools, and school districts; (2) Provide dedicated funding for teacher recruitment and retention initiatives across all school districts to address the acute teacher shortage in BC; and (3) That the Ministry of Education terminate the consideration of a prevalence-based model for special education funding and align special education funding with identified special education needs, including targeted funding for early identification and designation of students with special needs and per-student funding amounts for high-incidence designations.