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April 25, 2000 Prince George-CUPE members in Prince George are reeling, once again, after being told they will take the largest cut in the latest school board budgeting scam.

Marilyn Hannah President of CUPE Local 3742, school support worker, said, “Quite frankly, I dont know how to react. CUPE members keep trying to get the message out to Prince George residents that this school board is devastating the public education system-but no one seems to be listening.”

Hannah has indicated that the cuts announced by school board Chair Shirley Bond could affect at least sixty special needs assistants and numerous students with a wide variety of needs. “All for what?” says Hannah, “will the computers and technology the boards saving up for, provide children with the warmth and human interaction they need to move on?”

In addition said Hannah, “Breaking up the resource centre and moving it to individual schools is like de-centralizing the public library to peoples homes – in some cases the collections will grow, but where money is scarce it will be a different story. Were looking down the road at different programs depending on what schools our kids attend.”

“The union has every intention of mounting an information campaign to make parents aware of exactly what this means,” said Hannah. “Where is the provincial government when it comes to reversing these devastating decisions? Its up to the people who will be affected to take action.”

Information:
Marilyn Hannah, President CUPE Local 3742
(250) 563-9129
Louise Leclair, Communications Representative
(604) 291-1940

Regular information updates regarding CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining can be found at www.cupe.bc.ca/sbc.

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