Positive decision

Did government bow to public pressure, as opposition parties suggest? Or did last Friday’s decision adding 27 teaching positions in P.E.I. classrooms show that government is listening to the concerns of Islanders, as Education Minister Doug Currie and Premier Wade MacLauchlan avow.

Very likely, a fair bit of both.

The polling period was over so this good news announcement was not going to affect the latest Corporate Research Associates data released Tuesday. Whatever the reason, the new teaching positions are most welcome.

The decision last week came just ahead of an education protest rally Monday and a walkout of students in Kinkora and Kensington where concerns about fewer resources are running especially high. The government was under considerable pressure following its decision more than two weeks ago on teacher allotments for the coming school year. Rural schools cried foul because resources were shifting to urban areas with higher student numbers.

The key criticism was the failure by government to consult with principals beforehand — as is the customary practice. Instead, schools received tentative numbers for the fall and then consultations and tweaking got underway.

Opposition education critic Steven Myers asserts the government made a rushed and reactionary decision last week, and he has a strong argument. When MLAs debated the budget this spring, the government argued that money for more teachers wasn’t there. Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker concurs. The new positions were clearly unplanned. The premier might argue the extra positions are part of the normal staffing process which the department follows every year. But this is not a normal year, nor was this a normal staffing process.

The emotionally wrenching school review left everyone on edge. And yet, the highly sensitive teacher allocation review was fumbled because no advance consultations were held. Allocation is a clear indication of which schools might be in trouble if they are getting fewer resources and fewer elective options for students.

Over these past two weeks, teachers and parents raised concerns about those preliminary numbers, especially in rural schools facing significant reductions in full-time equivalent positions. Government tried to calm the uproar, saying discussions with principals were underway and those teacher numbers could change. The new staffing numbers are starting to come out and will not please everyone. While some decreases seem miniscule, parents feel once the erosion starts, where does it stop? The extra teachers will cost the province an estimated $1.7 million and puts a balanced budget in jeopardy. But Premier MacLauchlan says he is confident he can maintain balance through prudent fiscal management – supported by P.E.I.’s well-performing economy.

The extra teachers are a positive decision and prove that the system works — eventually — although reaching this happy conclusion was unnecessarily bumpy and messy.

If there was dialogue from the beginning, we could have avoided much of this controversy.