School board in education minister´s riding says teacher cuts threaten `core curriculum´
(The Star Fashion & Style)

A school board in Education Minister Lisa Thompson’s own riding says it will lose up to 50 secondary school teaching positions under the government’s plans for bigger classes, and that smaller schools will struggle to provide not only specialized classes but “even the core curriculum required to graduate.�Joining a number of others that have sent letters of concern, the Bluewater District School Board — which encompasses the ridings of two PC cabinet ministers, Thompson’s Huron-Bruce and Bill Walker’s Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound — wrote Friday about wanting to “work together to find solutions that mitigate significant negative impacts on our students and local rural education.�“Our main area of concern is the proposed change to class sizes, particularly at the secondary level,� says the letter, signed by chair Jan Johnstone and vice-chair Jane Thomson. “Your proposed increase in secondary class size numbers will result in a reduction of approximately 40 to 50 full-time-equivalent teaching staff positions within our board. It would be equivalent to closing two of our nine secondary schools.�Such a move “would amount to a substantial loss in both teaching and programming support for our students, and the inability of our small high schools to provide specialized course options, and even the core curriculum required to graduate,� they wrote.Bluewater is among the public boards in current Progressive Conservative strongholds — including Halton and Durham — to reach out to the minister, urging her to rethink the changes and hold proper consultations.Read more: High school classes of 46? That’s where Halton board warns Ford government changes to education could leadAs Ontario education funding rises by less than inflation, critics call it ‘rolling back the clock’Students at North York’s Emery C.I. have always felt left behind. Fight ...