Save Grade 2

Opinion Piece
Submitted by Ronald G. Marks
President, Nova Scotia School Boards Association
Published in the Chronicle Herald, February 17, 2010

Nova Scotia’s education partners – school boards, teachers, administrators and parents -recently launched a campaign to alert the public to the serious situation facing public education.The partners are seeking a 3.6 per cent increase to maintain the current level of programs and services to students.

SaveGrade2 has been established to inform Nova Scotians about the impossible choices facing education. Although removing grade 2 is not being considered, no increase would mean that school boards would be faced with choices no one wants to make. These choices will affect all students and particularly our most vulnerable.

What would these impossible choices look like? Some of the choices could include:

-widespread cuts to teaching positions;
-increased class sizes or double grade classes;
-cuts to the literacy improvement program;
-additional cuts to education assistants and bus drivers;
-further cuts to textbook budgets;
-additional school closures resulting in longer bus rides for students in rural areas; and
-reduction or elimination of programs such as French Immersion, music, physical education, Options and Opportunities, International Baccalaureate and special education.

As the president of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association and a school board member for twenty-five years, I have seen first-hand the challenges that school boards face as they continue to operate with limited or no increase in funding. According to Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia has the third lowest figure in the country for total expenditures per student.

The Deloitte group that prepared a report for Treasury Board assumed a 5 per cent expenditure increase to maintain status quo spending necessary for public schools. We have sharpened our pencils to arrive at the 3.6 percent ($40 million) to maintain programs and services. Forty million dollars will not be for new programs but to continue successful programs already in place. This is a fair and reasonable increase to keep treading water. It is also important to note that the 3.6 per cent does not include unsettled wages or new contracts not yet negotiated. The Department of Education negotiates these contracts annually with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and others. We expect the Province to cover negotiated increases. Recently, Finance Minister Graham Steele said that he understood our request but was looking for our solutions. The education partners acknowledge the difficult financial situation of the Province. The partners feel there are a number of ways the Government can find funding for public education. The first option is to raise taxes through either personal taxation or an increase to GST. Another option is to rebalance the books over 3-5 years through deficit reduction or elimination of programs such as French immersion, music, physical financing. The best way to improve the economy is to have a well-educated workforce and a sound education is a good start. Not only will this promote a healthy economy but it will also decrease health, social service and justice costs in the long term.

The education partners are urging Nova Scotians to act. We want you to get informed on this issue and to visit our campaign website at www.SaveGrade2.com. I urge you to attend a public consultation on finance in your area, and to contact your MLA.

Prior to the election the NDP stated they would like Nova Scotia to be a learning province. Learning starts with children and public education. I believe in education and I believe in the future of this province. As a parent who has had children and now grandchildren in the public education system I am hopeful that the province will continue to support our most important investment – our children. I know that a successful education for our children is a smart growth strategy for Nova Scotia.

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Opinion Piece

Submitted by Alexis Allen, President, Nova Scotia Teachers Union

Public Education too important for budget cuts

On January 21, the Education Partners launched the Save Grade 2 campaign.  The Nova Scotia Teachers Union, the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, the Nova Scotia Federation of Home and School Associations, the Association of Nova Scotia Educational Administrators, and la Fédération des parents acadiens de la Nouvelle-Écosse came together to launch this campaign for one reason alone:  the P-12 education system is critical to the success and prosperity of Nova Scotia and we cannot let it be undermined through budget cuts that will ultimately deprive students of the education they deserve. As we have noted again and again, education is a RIGHT, not a privilege.

As more Nova Scotians Get Informed, Get Passionate and Get Involved (www.savegrade2.com) in the cause of public education, we have been inundated with support and interest from people all over the province, giving strength and purpose to our collective voice. Over 2000 Nova Scotians have signed our online petition in support of continued funding for public education. As a result, we are better able to stress to our government the importance of upholding and sustaining the public education system.

The Education Partners are seeking a 3.6 per cent increase in education funding. This 3.6 per cent does not represent new funding for the system, but rather funding that will allow the existing system to be maintained. Many people question the need for added funding in the face of declining enrolments in the education system. Enrolment patterns within Nova Scotia are markedly different from one school board to another. The Strait Regional School Board saw a 14 per cent drop in enrolments from 2001-2006; over the same period, the Halifax Regional School Board saw only a 5 per cent drop, and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial saw a 3 per cent increase. In each case the per pupil allocations for staff, square footage, bussing needs, and building maintenance did not change. When education budgets are reduced, school boards cannot offer a reduced curriculum nor can teachers spend less time on required subjects. Because of the smaller numbers of students in schools, teachers often end up covering several different subject areas, and often contend with classrooms split between two or more grade levels. Essentially, cuts to public education funding result in students with fewer programs and less attention to individualized needs, and an overall shortage of resources.

As you know, the provincial government is asking for the public’s input on Nova Scotia’s finances through a series of public consultations. The Partners urge you to attend the consultations when they are held in your region. The consistent message coming from participants is that public education cannot and must not be sacrificed to pay down the deficit. Nova Scotians have made it very clear that cutting educational programs and putting added stress on students and the system as a whole is just not an option.

Recently, Nova Scotia has made great strides in improving student performance. In international testing, Nova Scotian 15-year-olds performed above the international average in science, mathematics and reading and outperformed their counterparts in 40 different countries. As well, in a 2006 international reading and literacy study, Nova Scotian grade four students scored significantly higher than their international counterparts, outperforming students in the United States and England.  We cannot take these measures of success for granted. 

Nova Scotians understand that the government is facing difficult choices. The Education Partners also understand that the government needs to tackle the growing deficit; however, failing to invest in the province’s future well-being and prosperity through the ongoing support of the public education system would be both shortsighted and, ultimately, self-defeating. 

The students of today will be the creators of our future economy. We are given the task of providing them with the very best foundations and opportunities to become those innovative thinkers, artists, entrepreneurs, and developers that we so desperately need and crave in this province. Nova Scotians are not prepared to let the students of this province shoulder the weight of the deficit by denying them the quality public education that we have guaranteed to them and that they deserve.

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February 1, 2010

Investing in Children and Youth Must be a Top Priority in the Provincial Budget

Port  Hastings, NS:  During a news conference held this afternoon at the Mulgrave Professional Development Centre, Strait Regional School Board Chair Mary Jess MacDonald echoed the message of the province’s major education partners and called on the Government of Nova Scotia to provide a 3.6% increase or $36 million in the 2010-2011 education budget in order to maintain current services provided to students.

“In order to ensure that our students are offered all of the programs, services and supports they deserve, the public education system needs consistent, sustained and adequate long-term funding.  It is through this type of rationale in funding that will enable us to properly support the positive development of our children and youth – our most valuable resource for safeguarding the future of our Province,” said Chair MacDonald.

The request of an increase of 3.6% to the public education budget will enable school boards to maintain the status quo.  This allocation will protect current student programs and services only; it does not enable boards to start or enhance programs.   However, no increase will mean the public education system will be faced with impossible choices – school boards will be forced to make reductions in areas that would severely impact student learning and student achievement.  The consequences of these choices would not only negatively impact the quality of education provided to students in the Strait Region; they would have an adverse affect for all of Nova Scotia’s 130,000 students.   This is not acceptable to the Strait Regional School Board and certainly should not be acceptable to Government.

The Strait Regional School Board acknowledges that the Government faces a significant challenge to correct the fiscal health of the Province.   However, it is the Board’s firm belief that a sustained investment in education will result in future savings for our province in the areas of health, community services and justice.  “The Strait Regional School Board firmly believes that sustained and proactive investment in public education will guide the province’s economic success in the future,” added Chair MacDonald.

School communities are encouraged to learn more about public education funding and the Save Grade 2 lobbying campaign by accessing www.savegrade2.com.

For more information, please contact: Mary Jess MacDonald, Chair, 227-7284; maryjess.macdonald@srsb.ca;

Jack Beaton, Superintendent of Schools, 625-7065

Deanna Gillis, Manager of Communications; 625-7093;

deanna.gillis@srsb.ca

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January 29, 2010

Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board faces budget uncertainties for the 2010-2011 school year

Sydney, NS: – Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board is again projecting significant cuts to their educational budget. Nova Scotia’s education partners – school boards, teachers, administrators and parents are seeking a 3.6 per cent increase for public education in the Province’s 2010/11 budget.  A lobby campaign entitled “Save Grade 2” has been launched by the partners to emphasize the impossible choices the system is facing.

Ron Marks, president of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, stated, “The primary goal of the campaign is to reinforce the Government’s belief that continued investment in public education will chart the course for the future economic prosperity of the province.”

Lorne Green, Board Chair, stated, The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board is committed to making the best choices when it comes to our student’s future, but sometimes these choices are difficult to make.” He added that the areas of concern for CBVRSB are:

• CBVRSB has the highest student decline in all the Boards in Nova Scotia (600 students each year over the last 10 years);
• Increased class sizes;
• Increase in the number of multi-age grades;
• Elimination of Math and Literacy mentors;
• Reduction of Professional Development opportunities;
• Concerns about building maintenance funding;
• Reduction of book budget by $500,000;
• Reduction of 42 teachers;
• 12% reduction in budget items overall;
• Use of a very small budget surplus to balance 2009/10 budget;
• Instability of energy, heath and transportation costs.

Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board is very active in this lobbying campaign, ie. meeting with editorial boards, conference calls with other School Boards in the Province, etc., and they will be insisting that there is adequate resource capacity to meet current, as well as projected, needs into 2011.  Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board has a responsibility to meet student’s outcomes as mandated by the Department of Education.

Contact:   Norma Baxter,

Communications Officer – 562-6487

n-baxter@staff.ednet.ns.ca

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January 27, 2010

AVRSB Concerned About Funding from the Province for School Boards

Board members of the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board are strongly advocating for essential funding for public education as the province prepares its Spring budget.  The Board’s goal is to retain current levels of programming and services for students.  If normal yearly increases in operational costs are not fully funded, the Board will be forced to make impossible decisions regarding what will have to be cut from the school system.

“Increased core funding for 2010-2011 to cover rising operational costs is essential,” says Superintendent Margo Tait.  “If this does not happen, we will need to eliminate some programs and services for students.  Classrooms will be impacted, and our students will lose out.”

The Board acknowledges that the economic situation in the province is difficult, and does not expect substantial expansion of programs or funding at this time.  They are requesting only a level of funding that is sufficient to enable the Board to offer students in the 2010-2011 school year the same opportunities as currently available.

“The cost of any cuts to our students would be high,” says Board Chair Lavinia Parrish-Zwicker.  “If the economy is to grow, if our children are to succeed, and if our future is to be secure, we must invest in education now in order to compete in the decades ahead.  The future of Nova Scotia sits in the classrooms of today.”  While recognizing the need for restraint, she is urging the government to adequately fund public education so that existing levels of service delivery to students are maintained.

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For Information contact: Karen Sotvedt, Communication Secretary 538-4614

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