On literacy, learning and the economy - Part 2

There has been no shortage of opinions shared this week on education. From columnists to public policy think tanks to politicians, everyone is sharing their two cents what big cuts to education budgets might mean for the system.  Now it's our turn.

Rhonda


Let’s start with last week and the Premier’s State of the Province address, which I promised to write about within a few days of my last posting. (Yep, took a little longer than I thought..) At that speech, hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, the Premier laid out the province’s plans to support education and skills development as part of the jobsHere economic stimulus strategy. We know that our workforce is the most educated in the province, but we also have significant challenges when it comes to literacy and numeracy skills (see Valerie Payn’s information in our last blog post). So Nova Scotia is making the commitment to improving the skills of adults who are unemployed or underemployed, several of whom are probably living with learning disabilities. That made me feel good.

Unfortunately, that feeling only lasted until the Premier was asked a question about education. Specifically he was asked what he would do to support our youngest learners develop the skills they need NOW so that we’re not facing the same skills deficits in the future. (Gee, I wonder who could have written that question?) The answer was not encouraging. The Premier, who appeared to be quite uncomfortable, could only say that Nova Scotia school enrolments are declining by 3000 students a year and education budgets can’t keep increasing. He didn’t say they’d be cut, but the writing is on the wall with the current directive to provincial school boards to plan for a 22% budget reduction over three years.

So where does that leave us, or specifically, our kids? In jeopardy of NOT mastering essential skills like reading (see a related posting - Literacy – A Call to Action). If we take any necessary cuts out on the frontline of education, that removes the resources and supports our kids need in the classroom: teachers who have a manageable workload and can meet the needs of their students; adequate resource support for our struggling learners; and music, art and other creative forms of expression that allow our kids to show us their strengths in an environment that otherwise demands conformity.

Let's hope that our policy makers take heed of the rising tide of voices that are calling for more creative solutions.  If you have access to allnovascotia.com, check out AIMS Charles Cirtwell's thoughts on Education in the You Said It feature.  Reducing the number of school boards and renting out unused space in half-empty schools were two alternatives he presented.  He also laid out a terrific argument for school vouchers – allowing parents the choice to match the needs of their child to the school that can meet them.  Sound familiar?  Our current Tuition Support program allows parents of children with learning disabilities who qualify to get funding to attend Designated Special Education Private Schools in Nova Scotia.  The system costs the province less than it would to keep those same students in the public school system, yet the child gets the individualized programming and class sizes they need.  Why couldn’t that system work for everyone?

One last note

Kudos to Marilla Stephenson of The Chronicle Herald for making the link to education and the economy in her column, Education is the fast road to get kids out of poverty. She wrote about two studies that came out this week on the impact of child poverty. Her call for an approach focused on education made me want to stand up and cheer. In her words, education, “has been, and always will be, the road out of poverty. Starting when the children are young makes a whole lot of sense.” Amen.