Dalton Needs To Speak Out Against Deceptive Budget That Slams Local Students
VICTORIA— Liberal MLA Marc Dalton needs to stand against a deceptive budget that breaks the B.C. Liberals’ election promise to protection education with last minute cuts and increased costs that are leaving schools in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Mission reeling, say New Democrats.
“The B.C. Liberals promised to protect education, but now they are making cuts and 
Michael Satherincreasing costs to school districts,” said Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Michael Sather . “Mr. Dalton needs to stand up for the students and families in his community. Children shouldn’t have to bear the burden of the B.C. Liberals’ budget deception.”
The B.C. Liberals announced they were cancelling schools’ $110 million facilities grant just a week before classes, despite the fact that many districts had already spent at least a portion of the anticipated funding over the summer. New Democrat education critic Robin Austin calls it a retroactive cut.
Robin Austin“Schools plan their maintenance in the spring and perform it in the summer. The funds that the B.C. Liberals cut were already spent by many districts. This retroactive cut will be coming out of classrooms at a time when one in four classes already break Gordon Campbell’s own class size law,” said Austin.
Sather noted that the Campbell government’s 30 per-cent cut to B.C. School Sports also means that school districts will have to pick up the slack or eliminate access to sports that typically attract less corporate sponsorship, like wrestling, badminton, and track and field.
“It’s embarrassing that the B.C. Liberal government is cutting access to school sports just months before we host the winter Olympics,” said Sather. “Mr. Dalton needs to do the right thing and speak out against the B.C. Liberals’ short-sighted and cruel cuts to kids.”
Both the HST and increased Medical Service Plan premiums will add considerable costs to school districts which have been struggling for years with a stagnant funding formula that ignores other increasing costs for fixed items such as heating and transportation.
“School boards can’t absorb these cuts and increased operating expenses without compromising the quality of public education in British Columbia,” said Austin. “Our children deserve better.”
Carole James and the New Democrats have been holding the B.C. Liberals accountable for backtracking on their election promises to protect health care, education and other vital services, and for breaking their word on the HST.
