Frustration, anger as schools learn teacher allocations, says NLTA

Schools across Newfoundland and Labrador were getting the numbers Tuesday on how many teachers they will lose as a result of the 2016 provincial budget.

• Bigger classes, fewer teachers as budget trims school system

"They're upset. I can hear the frustration as the reality starts to sink in," said Jim Dinn, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA), who spent the day taking calls from educators.

"It is not working in the rosy way the education minister has portrayed."

According to the NLTA, 219 teaching positions are being removed from the system, more than expected because of school closures in St. John's, Whitbourne, Greenspond, Conche and Long Island.

• 5 schools closed by English School District

But the Minister of Education, Dale Kirby, does the math differently.

Kirby told reporters outside the House of Assembly on Tuesday that 27 teaching units will be protected as a special education resource.

Another 142 teachers will be hired for the full-day kindergarten program.

Taking that into account, Kirby predicted a net loss of 73 positions, but he disputed that anyone will actually be laid off because other teachers will leave of their own accord.

"I don't anticipate that any teacher will have to lose their job as a result of this," he said. "Last year we had in the order of 200 retirements and we don't anticipate anything less than that this year."

Kirby said some teachers who refuse to be reassigned might be let go, but he thinks that would happen "in small numbers."

He said when everything shakes down, schools will still be hiring new teachers in the fall.

Minister 'talking through his hat'

"The minister is talking through his hat on this one, hoping that things will work out," said Dinn. "If I'm a high school teacher, I cannot walk into a kindergarten class."

"I think there will be people who will face a layoff, or who will not have a job."

Dinn said students and parents will see bigger class sizes and multi-grade elementary classrooms in 70 schools that have not had combined classes before, including some on the Avalon Peninsula.

Combined classrooms mean some students in Grade 3, for example, could be put in a Grade 4 class with one teacher responsible for the dual curriculum.

"I call them the leftover students," said Dinn. "They [the government] are too damn cheap to put the extra teacher in."

Kirby said 20 per cent of students in Canada are in combined classrooms.

"We have not seen any evidence there is a discernable impact on student achievement."

The NLTA said the system is already stressed due to the inclusion program, where students with special needs are put in a regular classroom.

"Students are not getting assessed for supports because there is no chance they will get the supports," Dinn said.

The union is considering what it will do to fight the cuts, and Dinn said teachers are being encouraged to email individual MHAs.