Cuts to Education

Jacquie Hansen, President of the Alberta Schools Board Association, has written a letter to the editor in this morning's Calgary Herald entitled, "Brace yourselves for cuts to education." She points out that while at first glance it appears government funding increased by 4.7%, the province actually turned around and cut or eliminated pieces of the basic funding formula. Previous blog posts have talked about the ELL funding cut (Calgary Board has the largest number of ELL students in the province at approximately 22,000) but her letter also points out that the grant that covered the cost of purchasing supplies in an area where there is a higher cost of living was eliminated as well - and this will cost the Calgary Board of Education $8M.

Ms. Hansen goes on to state that, "Schools are a people business. When dollars are cut, ultimately staff will be cut." This means fewer teachers and services for our children. Is this any way to "nurture and preserve" a world-class public education system? She calls for a funding model based on the current health-care model that would see "multi-year budgets with preset grant increases" allowing boards to plan long term.