Wendy Bisaro

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to know where to start. I’ve been asking questions all week. I haven’t really been getting answers and it has frustrated me, as I imagine this has come across in some of my questions.

I think I’d like to start by asking the question of how important is the Junior Kindergarten Program to the Minister, to the department, to Cabinet. I’ve been hearing it stated that it is very important. I’ve been hearing it stated it’s important to the school districts, that it’s important to the superintendents, that it’s important to teachers, that it’s important to parents. If I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to be short. Lastly, I would just like to ask a question of the Minister with regards to a couple of comments on the fact sheets, which bothered me. I did say earlier that something in the Minister’s statement was disturbing and the fact sheets were disturbing as well.

There were two statements which I have difficulty with. “It is not unreasonable to expect the education authorities to absorb and plan for a minor decrease of 0.4 to 1 percent over a three-year period.” That’s hardly a fact, Mr. Speaker. The numbers are a fact, but the expectation is not a fact...

Thanks. I think that was a yes, but I’m still not sure and I would really like to get that question clarified and I think the school boards would as well. However, I guess I have to leave it at that.

The Minister has spoken in regards to the fact sheets and he has spoken, as well, in his statements to the pupil-teacher ratio and stated that we are 13.8 to 1. Across Canada the best PTR is 11.8 students to 1 in Newfoundland; the worst, so to speak, is 16.8 students to 1 in British Columbia. So I’d like to ask the Minister, we are currently at 13.8, but the road that we are on seems to be taking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure if the Minister didn’t understand my question or if he’s trying to avoid answering it. I was not talking about extraordinary funding; I was talking about junior kindergarten students starting a program.

The Minister spoke yesterday about per student funding and he mentioned that as the NWT, compared to Canada, we get a great deal more. We do fund our school districts better than the provinces, but we are very close to the funding announced for our sister territories, which you omitted to mention.

In looking at the fact sheet, it looks like the per student...

I guess I have to assume, since the Minister isn’t answering my question, that the answer to my question is yes, it’s a negative impact on school boards. Using numbers from the department itself, numbers that have been agreed to by school districts and also Education, Culture and Employment, Yellowknife Catholic Schools will see a reduction in their budget as follows: $277,000 in year one; $744,000 in year two; $1.137 million in year three. In year three, as the Minister stated yesterday, they will get funding for junior kindergarten of $960,000. The end result is a budget reduction of $177...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to have a Grade 6 social studies class from William McDonald School in Frame Lake. I’m pleased to welcome them here. I will ask them to rise so they can be recognized when I read their names, and I’ll do my best not to mispronounce. Ivan Ceria, Logan Clarke, Joshua Donison, Safiya Hashi, Dylan Heaton-Vecsei, Cace Heffernan, Ethan Kirizopoulus, Mia MacInnis, Riley Menard, Rae Panayi, Justin Powder, Nathan Shereni, Anusha Sivakumar, and they’re accompanied by their teacher, Melanie Parisella, and their executive assistant, Carolyn Sauvageau. Welcome to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just wonder if the chair of the committee or a member of the committee or the mover of the motion could give an example of what kind of expenditures are being talked about here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to give me the information on resources, but again, I am hearing that schools will not get funding in 2014-15 when they start the program and I didn’t hear an answer from the Minister on that.

The Minister talks about the pupil-teacher ratio and, yes, we are still under the 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio in most cases.

I would like to know from the Minister: What is our current pupil-teacher ratio and once we have implemented junior kindergarten and after all three years, what will our PTR become following the budget cuts and the...