A system that depends on EAs doesn't make sense, education minister says

Classrooms shouldn't be dependent on educational assistants, New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy says.

The province needs to get to "the root of the problem" of why there's a perceived need for more educational assistants, or EAs, in New Brunswick classrooms, Cardy said Friday.

Those EAs are considered a vital part of the inclusion model, allowing students with disabilities and behavioural issues to remain in regular classrooms.

"We have to stop thinking that we're going to solve this by simply just spending money and putting more adults into the classroom," Cardy said in an interview with Information Morning Moncton. 

"What we have to do is figure out where did this drive come from that's led to the need for so many more EAs?"

On Sept. 17, superintendent Gregg Ingersoll and the Anglophone East district education council rejected the district's proposed budget for the second time, saying the district needs more money for hiring additional educational assistants. 

"The way that we're funded for those educational assistants is we get a certain amount," Ingersoll said in an interview earlier this week. 

"And if you go over that number, then you have to find the difference in your global budget."

The district education council has asked for a bigger budget, but Cardy said that's not an option. 

"We don't have the additional money," he said. "I think that's been pretty clear, over the time since the last election and the discussions that myself and other ministers have had, is that we are in a funding crisis in the province."

Instead, Cardy wants to better understand why educational assistants are needed in the classroom and work on diminishing the need for them.

He said he wants to help students with mental health and behavioural issues before educational assistants are needed in the classroom.

The minister didn't elaborate on how that would be done, but he said that hiring more educational assistants is not the answer. 

"I think we've got to be more radical and creative, and that's where I'm hoping that I can hear more from the district [instead of] just asking for more cash for the same old thing that hasn't been working," he said.