Save Grade 2

We all want to make the best choices when it comes to our children’s future. Sometimes those choices are easy to make and other times they can be difficult.

But what do you do when faced with impossible choices?

That is exactly what Nova Scotians are being confronted with right now.

After years of limited funding and standstill budgets, Nova Scotia’s public education system has reached its breaking point. Without an increased government investment of just 3.6 per cent, the school system we enjoy today won’t exist tomorrow.

The result would not only seriously impact the quality of education for Nova Scotia’s 130,000 students, it would jeopardize their future and the future of Nova Scotians as well.

If the funding for public education decreases, school boards in this province will be faced with impossible choices, such as:

• Cutting 800 teachers.
• Cutting the literacy improvement initiative by $7,000,000.
• Making additional staff cuts to educational assistants and bus drivers.
• Cutting the textbook budget by over $4,000,000.
• Closing additional schools resulting in an hour-and-a-half long bus ride to and from school every day for some students.
• Reducing or eliminating programs such as French Immersion, Special Education and Physical Education.
• Increasing class sizes for many students.

Future Economy

Now, imagine those children already struggling in school. Fewer teachers would mean larger class sizes and less personal attention for each student. Fewer textbooks would mean students having to share books and not getting the time they need to read and study. Longer bus trips would force students to get up earlier and arrive home later, reducing their concentration on school and homework. Finally, the reduction or elimination of programs like Special Education and the Literacy Improvement Initiative would mean our most vulnerable students would take much longer to achieve their educational goals – if at all.

In the short term, we would potentially see an increase in dropouts and graduates whose academic records don’t prepare them to enter the highly competitive post secondary education system.

The long-term impact is even more alarming. Last year, only half of Nova Scotians aged 25-64 who did not finish high school were employed. Unless things change, that number is only going to grow. That means a significant number of people who are unable to contribute to our economy, while simultaneously placing a heavier burden on our province’s social and justice services and health care system. In last year’s Speech from the Throne, the Government of Nova Scotia specifically declared education key to our future prosperity. Today’s knowledge-based economy is one that increasingly demands a workforce educated beyond just high school.

Without it, we risk losing industries and businesses to competing provinces and countries. In turn, Nova Scotia would become a financially struggling province, unappealing to young people and families as a place to live and grow. Public education drives both economic and social development, increases employment opportunities, reduces the need for social assistance, improves health, fosters a learning culture and enhances the quality of life.

The Save Grade 2 campaign is your chance to make your voice heard. Let Nova Scotia’s government know that our public education system desperately needs its support. Show them how much you care about our children’s future.