Jim Horner of Whistler, thank you for your letter of April 17, explaining in three strikes and a simple listing of why you would not vote Liberal again, and for the admonition that we all must do a bit of careful homework before voting. I need to add to your list: cuts to funding of public education.
The Liberal government has the lowest per capita spending on public education in Canada and the highest student/teacher ratio; further, BC falls well below any other western province in keeping up with inflation in education funding (from data supplied by Statistics Canada in July 2008). Oh, and we have the highest rate of children living in poverty. Wow.
[Education] Minister [Shirley] Bond says that education is protected (as her colleague says of Health), and that no school district will receive less funding in 2009-10 than 2008-09.
What she did not say is that funding levels will not keep up with inflation, that boards of education have been instructed to cut three per cent of their administration costs from a budget that does not cover government negotiated wages or simple cost of living increases, that 34 districts will not see any increase in funding, and that the costs of myriad new programs and reporting structures have been downloaded to districts during the Liberals years in government.
Let's not forget that when the Liberals stripped teachers' contracts in 2002, they cut the most important things to learning: guarantees for class size limits and services to students with special needs.
Research shows that every $1 spent on children's development (adequate food, shelter, education) saves $7 of future costs in social and judicial programs. What can we expect next time under this government?
Hmm, putting our future and our children more at risk, perhaps? I guess these are things that can't be measured in four-year terms.
Vote with care and knowledge May 12.
John Hall
President, Howe Sound Teachers' Association
