Suggested education cuts are being called an exaggeration
Posted Jan 17, 2011 11:29:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A directive from the Department of Education that Nova Scotia’s school boards need to prepare for a 22 per cent budgetary cut is not being taken seriously by government opposition parties.
Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie says the Darrell Dexter government is playing an “old-style” political game by floating an unrealistic number in front of school boards before announcing the real amount of the proposed budgetary cuts.
“For months, our school boards have been distracted from their focus on educating our kids because of this game-playing by the Premier. No business would go about budgeting this way,” said Baillie in a media release today. “Mismanagement of the education system eventually shows up in our economy. The Premier should be perfectly clear about his intentions – that is the responsible way to balance the province’s budget.”
An Education Department planning document released last fall instructed school boards to prepare for a possible $196 million in budget cuts over the next three years.
The Nova Scotia School Board Association claims such cuts would result in 70 school closures and 4,000 job losses.
Liberal education critic Kelly Regan says the Dexter government has over-estimated the amount in an effort to look heroic when less dramatic cuts are announced.
