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Opposition disappointed education April 4, 2007
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Opposition Education Critic and MHA for the District of Port de Grave, Roland Butler, says he is disappointed that government is not taking action to address the needs which exist in the education system, despite clear evidence that changes must occur. "Government is trying to leave the impression with today=s announcement that they are putting new teachers into the system, which in fact, is not the truth. This is nothing more than a shell game, as they cut close to 500 teachers during their first years in government. Now, they are trying to convince people they are putting teachers back into the system," says Butler. "They are not listening to the NLTA and others who have pointed to the need for a new teacher allocation formula which would take into account the needs which exist in the system. Basically what they have done is said they are going to maintain the status quo. I am surprised they have not got the message yet that the status quo is not good enough. They need to do more." The Liberal MHA says the government has also not done enough to deal with the problems in the math curriculum . "I am hearing from members of my own family and parents generally that there are some serious problems with the new math curriculum. Government is not moving fast nor effectively enough to deal with these concerns." The Liberal Critic says the education system in this province is reaching a crisis situation which compromises the whole concept of quality public schools. "We are being faced with a two-tier system, where students whose parents can afford tutors are receiving one level of education, while those who cannot are getting another. Teachers are doing the best they can with the resources they have. Furthermore, the NLTA has done everything possible to bring the problems to the attention of government, but no one there seems to be listening." Butler says it is widely accepted that the current teacher allocation formula does not work in the current circumstances in this province and that it needs to be replaced. "The problem is that we have seen such out-migration from this province that teacher allocation based on student numbers does not work anymore. There are close to 3,000 students coming out of the system every year, but we have reached the limit on what can be done in terms of school closures. The minister should have taken some decisive action this year to deal with this developing crisis, rather than simply sticking with the unacceptable and ineffective status quo where there is little or no progress."
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