Schools not getting funding

Editor:
Last week our Education Minister had published a letter in another local paper in which she claimed: “The province is not only protecting public education; we are improving services for students…” I dispute those claims and instead of political spin from a government increasingly under fire for misleading the public I will offer a small list of cuts that clearly illustrate how the minister is doing the opposite of what she claims.
Cuts in District 57 schools are going to be deep and will hurt the learning environment. Right now schools are planning their staffing and cutting back on librarians, counsellors, learning assistance, administration and teacher assistant time. In addition classes are being built to provincial maximums at levels last seen following the cuts of 2002-2003. In addition learning resources shared by schools are threatened by a discontinuation of circulation as the District Resource Center gets cut back. Further cuts at the district level will ensure that area support teams service less children and meet less needs.
I invite the minister to come to Prince George and publicly defend her published claims in a debate in front of parents, teachers, students and school trustees, unless of course she knows they can’t be defended.
Matt Pearce
Prince George
District Teachers’ Association