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Education motion good, but needed to go
further: Opposition
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Opposition Education Critic and MHA for the District of Port De Grave, Roland Butler, says he is disappointed that government saw education issues as a means to boost its political fortunes, rather than acknowledge there is much more work needed to improve the education system. Butler=s comments came after the government used its majority in the House of Assembly to defeat a Liberal amendment to a Tory private member=s motion endorsing educational initiatives in the recent budget. "I have no problems supporting the good things government is proposing for education, but the point of the amendment I put forward was for all parties to acknowledge that much still remains to be done." The amendment noted that, while supporting the additional funding for education, the Liberal Opposition also called on government to go further to address items such as special needs student, curriculum problems, large class sizes and the urgent need for a comprehensive review of school repairs. "I had hoped that some government members would be willing to agree that education needs significant more investment. It is unfortunate that their caucus decided to play political games instead and voted against this amendment." The Liberal MHA says his caucus voted in favour of the motion, nonetheless, refusing to get caught up in the push and shove of the game of politics by simply opposing for the sake of opposing. "We are willing to give credit where it is due, but there is also a role for us to be critical when it is necessary. Anyone who is familiar with the education system in this province, from parents, teachers and the NLTA, understands that the system is still deficient in a number of critical areas and leaving them unaddressed means government is failing the children. AEven the premier himself engaged in belittling the teachers= association when it voiced its opinion that more funding was needed in the classroom than was provided in the budget. Clearly, criticism is not something this government handles with tact, instead berating those who hold a difference of opinion with respect to policies and priorities.@ The Liberal Education Critic says this year=s expenditure in education, as a percentage of total government expenditures, is not above what it has been in previous years, especially what was invested during the 2003 Aeducation budget@ put forth by the Grimes= administration.
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