Image credit to Gary Cooper for The National
Many parents are finding the once nominal fees charged to families with school-aged children have become difficult to manage. New fees have been introduced, like the “lunch supervision fee.”
These fees create barriers – putting into question how “public” our schools actually are.
We’ve seen the autonomy of school boards decrease, as more and more decisions move into the control of the provincial government.
At the same time, the province continues to underfund our schools. Schools are being forced to make tough decisions, and have had to offload expenses directly onto students & families as a last resort to address systematic underfunding.
Advocating for properly-funded schools is one of the key planks of my platform, and I wish more candidates were talking seriously about it. If elected, I will do my best to make sure schools are getting the funding they require – even if that means challenging the provincial government.
A properly-funded public school system would not require families to make up the difference, and will make sure every child is able to reach their potential.
