Cuts to the education budget have led to downsize, says teachers’ union
A total of 44 probationary teachers are being laid off in the Halifax Regional School Board. This is the most recent announcement in teacher cutbacks being made across the province.
The Annapolis Valley Regional School Board is planning on cutting 27 teaching positions, while the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board will be shedding 17 teaching positions. The Strait Regional School Board said it would cut 14 teachers.
Last week, the Cape Breton-Victoria Board issued layoff notices to 14 of its permanent teachers as part of an overall reduction of 63 full-time teachers.
The layoffs are a result of a $35 million cut to the education budget this year, according to the Nova Scotia Teacher Union (NSTU).
The union says that it will be students that experience the repercussions of these layoffs and that earlier statements by Education Minister Ramona Jennex saying that these cutbacks would be “minimal” are wrong.
“This is not minimal,” says NSTU president Alexis Allen. “We’re talking about larger class sizes, more combined classrooms, and fewer supports for students.”
The NSTU says that they do not know how many teaching positions will be lost in total.
The union is also in the middle of negotiating a new collective agreement for its members with the Department of Education. Their previous agreement expired in July 31, 2010.
