School District 57 students who missed three lost days of instruction as a result of last month's teachers' strike won't be getting back that classroom time.
But there is a silver lining. Most of the money saved in unpaid teachers' wages will go back to schools.
By not having to pay the province's 41,000 teachers during the walkout, the education ministry saved $37 million and will direct $30 million of that to the Learning Improvement Fund (LIF) for the 2012-13 school year, doubling the fund from $30 million to $60 million.
For School District 57, that will result in a doubling of LIF funding to $1.534 million for 2012-13, said a ministry spokesman. The remaining $7 million will be distributed to each of the province's 60 school boards. School District 57, by not paying its 730 full-time equivalent teachers, saved the province close to $972,000 in lost wages during the walkout.
How much of that $7 million pot will stay in School District 57 schools remains a mystery. SD 57 superintendent Brian Pepper, who was out of town on Tuesday, deferred all comment to the education ministry, who advised the Citizen to contact the school board to release that figure. SD 57 secretary-treasurer Bryan Mix could not be reached.
The province now has $195 million in the LIF to hand out to schools over the next three years. Schools will have access to another $60 million in LIF funding in 2013-14 and $75 million in 2014-15. That money is targeted for classrooms with high numbers of special needs students. The fund will be used to hire additional teachers and special education assistants, pay for additional teaching time, and fund professional development and training for teachers. Schools are also in line for $10.7 million in one-time funding to support literacy programs.
"We always want more support for our kids but it's unfortunate this is how they're doing it, they should have funded our education system properly in the first place," said Tina Cousins, first vice-chair of the Prince George District Teachers Association. "We of course want better learning conditions for schools, but this isn't the way to do it, on the backs of teachers."
