The union representing support staff at the Canadian Rockies School Division in Alberta is blasting Local MLA Janis Tarchuk for “destructive cuts to education that will make life incredibly difficult for students.”
CUPE 4306 President April Post said cutting 20 per cent of the hours of libraries will have an impact on staff and students. “Libraries are the hub of learning and teaching in the school - closing libraries is like closing schools.”
Educational Assistants, Admin Assistants, Library Technicians, Career Practitioners have all lost valuable professional development time as a result of these cuts. Post noted that with the board laying off sixteen teaching positions – class sizes are expected to increase, and the burden on teachers is going to be huge.
Kirk Oates, CUPE Union representative said the blame lies squarely with the provincial Conservative government, “I’m not sure why we have a Conservative MLA if she can’t stop the near destruction of our education system.”
“For a small district to be asked to make such deep cuts is shocking – and shows the Conservatives clearly don’t care about our children or their futures.”