Editor:
I have been a teacher since 1986 and there has been political unrest my whole career. It is always about the same thing: the learning conditions of our students and the lack of funding by the government. News reports focus in on the teachers wanting a raise and not on the real issue: underfunding of our public education system.
I am working bell to bell because I am tired of the inequality of funding.
Our school has lost a full-time librarian, special education teacher, and a childcare worker because of budget cuts. Our principal told us we had to cut all our budgets this year because there was not enough money. Now he tells us things are not much better for next year. We will be working with the same slashed budget with larger class sizes of 30 students. It all has to do with the number of students in each grade level. We should be able to not worry about the split in numbers.
Our funding from the government is based on the number of blocks students take, so a student without a full time table is not fully funded. This has caused a shortfall in available money for our high schools. Our district tries its best to shift funds to make ends meet, but the real solution is adequate funding from the government.
Parents should be concerned about the injustice of underfunding at the high school level. Our young adults are suffering because we do not have adequate funding to purchase technology, or keep our libraries staffed with a teacher librarian. We also have seen incredible cuts to special education, leaving those most vulnerable unsupported.
I am tired of scrounging. Help me send the message: we need more funding!
Susan Mearns
Math/science teacher
Elphinstone Secondary
