Massive cuts to public schools as CBE addresses shortfall
Posted Apr 19, 2011 8:04 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary public schools could be cutting roughly one in twenty frontline teaching jobs by fall.
It’s the latest proposal from the Calgary Board of Education’s administration as it tries to address a $61.7-million funding shortfall from the province.
In a statement from the board, Chief Superintendent Naomi Johnson says they knew this day was coming when they saw the provincial budget.
“We knew we could not possibly absorb the shortfall without affecting students in classrooms. We knew this budget would require hundreds of layoffs,” she says.
Larry Leech, President of the Association for Responsible Trusteeship in Calgary, isn’t as quick to point fingers.
He’s calling on the CBE to make its budget fully transparent because currently they have no idea how much has been spent on administration versus teachers.
Leech says the first cuts should be within administration.
“We’re not saying they’re spending too much on administration, we’re saying we don’t know,” he explains. “Have they cut as much as they can in that area? I would like to see a public presentation of the entire budget.”
“A lot of other boards in the province have been able to get away with spending less on administration and we would just like to see the numbers and have an honest debate about it,” Leech adds.
This latest round of cuts is the second and final phase in its “resource allocation method,” with the first set of layoffs being announced on March 22nd.
Despite budgetary woes, the board says it doesn’t plan on making changes to the current English as a Second Language program and full-day kindergarten in 17 schools.
In the meantime, a group of parents is asking the provincial government to stop saving money at the expense of their children.
The school council and parent association of Captain John Palliser School is circulating a petition that will be presented by Liberal MLA Kent Hehr in the legislature next week.
“We want our kids to be educated, we want them to get the best education so they can become great Alberta citizens in the future,” concerned parent Sandy Smith tells Citytv. “These are our future doctors, they are our future business leaders and we can’t let them down.”
