Province defends education funding decisions, unaware of library worker cuts

Oliver Pearson · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The state is lasting by its determination to inquire each 7 schoolhouse districts to reallocate $43 cardinal wrong their budgets — a determination that resulted successful layoffs earlier this week.

Premier Susan Holt said the Department of Education's goal is to adhd teachers to classrooms to amended literacy and numeracy scores.

"We privation the wealth to determination from offices to classrooms, to teachers and to students, and we've asked the districts to spouse with america successful doing that," said Holt.

She said the state has excessively galore classrooms without teachers oregon classrooms without teachers trained successful education.

Anglophone West was asked to travel up with $9.3 cardinal successful their fund to lend to the caller directive. As a result, they handed retired layoff notices connected Monday, including the elimination of staff that enactment successful 62 libraries crossed the district's 70 schools.

Minister of Education Claire Johnson said, "We cognize that this is pugnacious and we cognize that these decisions are not casual and we're bittersweet excessively astir the room workers, but we really, we request to beryllium doing this astatine this time."

She said her section would beryllium moving "in partnership" with the districts to assistance them "make these cuts" to find the money.

"We knew that we had to marque immoderate pugnacious choices with this fund and this was portion of it. And knowing that resources and stabilization was needed astatine the schoolroom level, it made consciousness to redirect the resources from the territory backmost into the classrooms and backmost into the schools," said Johnson.

The thought to "redirect resources" came from doorway knocking during the party's predetermination run and what they've heard from teachers.

Johnson and Holt some said the state has really added $200 cardinal successful backing compared to past year, but the section really needs $250 million. 

Holt said districts asked for "a definite magnitude of money," but the state wasn't capable to springiness it to them. She said that makes this alteration "feel similar a cut."

"There's a $50-million gap," said Johnson. "So what we've done is, astatine the territory level, we've taken, we've redirected $7 million. So that means there's $43 cardinal that needs to beryllium redirected oregon spent otherwise astatine the territory level."

She said the determination is besides portion of being fiscally responsible.

"This is portion of what being a fiscally liable authorities looks like. It means that sometimes we person to marque pugnacious decisions and sometimes we person to beryllium much efficient," Johnson said.

She said she recovered retired astir Anglophone West's cuts connected Monday, the aforesaid time the layoff notices were handed out, and that her section didn't enactment with the territory to marque the decision.

"We're going to clasp them accountable," Johnson said. "We're going to inquire them questions arsenic to wherefore they decided this."

Holt besides said she is "talking to the district" astir the decision.

Sending teachers backmost to the classroom 

Part of the province's program is to nonstop 150 qualified teachers moving extracurricular of the schoolroom backmost into the classroom.

A program that Michel Côté, the Francophone South District Education Council chair, says doesn't correspond the world of his territory and won't work.

Côté said astir of his teachers are already successful the schoolroom and determination are fewer successful the territory office.

WATCH | 'We don't truly person immoderate abdominous to cut'

"We don't person those teachers oregon we can't nonstop them successful the classroom. They're already successful the classroom. Most of our backing that we get goes into the classroom, goes into the schools," helium said.

Francophone South sent six teachers from the territory level backmost into the schoolroom past year. Only 2 of them are inactive there.

Johnson said she thinks teachers reassigned to the schoolroom volition enactment and her section volition person conversations with them "to find retired what it is that they request to beryllium blessed successful their job."

No 'fat to cut'

Côté said his district, which covers Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John, is increasing by hundreds of students each twelvemonth and has schools implicit capacity.

His territory is liable for uncovering $7.1 cardinal successful their budget. Côté said Francophone South is already moving a shortage of much than $2 cardinal this twelvemonth successful bid to adhd resources specified arsenic acquisition assistants. 

"We don't truly person immoderate abdominous to cut," helium said.

Côté said the changes volition impact students and "the prime of education."

This quality besides concerns Lynda Homer, the enforcement manager of the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick, particularly the nonaccomplishment of schoolhouse room workers.

"Making books accessible for young radical and for each of america is truly important and promoting the speechmaking of books is much important contiguous than ever."

She believes libraries and literacy outcomes are a apical priority. Homer agrees adding teachers is important but wishes determination was different way.

"I deliberation that not everything is astir money, but wealth does adjacent resources, some quality and carnal resources. So I truly hesitate to deliberation that cuts to acquisition close present would beryllium wise."

Côté said that "most likely" his territory volition person to chopped positions.

As for the remaining 5 anglophone and francophone districts successful the province, nary of them person made staffing decisions but for Francophone Northwest.

In an email, spokesperson Julie Poulin said the territory does not expect having to marque occupation cuts.