NDP Education Critic Carla Beck applauded Battlefords MLA Herb Cox for supporting his local school board’s fight against any cuts by the Sask. Party and called on Cox to extend that same support to all rural boards concerned about losing their local voice.
“It’s great to see Mr. Cox defending the voice of his local school board. I hope he extends that same support to all rural school boards across the province and that members of his caucus actually listen to his concerns,” Beck said. “I’ve been travelling throughout the province, from Khedive to La Loche, and the message I’ve consistently been hearing from school boards, teachers, and parents is that they are worried about the Sask. Party rushing forward with plans to cut school boards and silence local input into local education.”
As the Sask. Party continues with their rushed process that seems more about scrambling to cut funding than it is about bettering education for Saskatchewan students, Beck and other members of the NDP team have been travelling to communities across the province and listening to parents, community members, teachers, and elected representatives who are concerned about losing their input into the education of their kids.
“The Sask. Party benefitted from nearly a decade of record revenues, but didn’t plan or save for the future. Now the Sask. Party is putting its own mismanagement, scandal and waste on the backs of teachers and students,” Beck said. “We have already seen cuts and claw backs to school divisions struggling with infrastructure issues, overcrowded classes, and teachers with fewer and fewer resources in the classroom. The Sask. Party has refused to accept responsibility for these failures, but maybe now, with a member of their own caucus finally standing up, they’ll consider the concerns that teachers and school board members have been raising all along.”