Dear Editor:
The school system is strained because costs that used to be covered by government no longer are.
Unfortunately, this problem is passed down to our local school boards which are called on to do a lot with limited resources.
Teachers and students are affected.
Class sizes have grown and special needs students have been added without extra help.
I personally know of a case where a teacher has 26 pupils plus three special needs children.
One of these pupils tests at the lowest one per cent of intelligence. He only knows his name and that he’s in school, but he cannot read and comprehend printing in his Grade 4 class.
The teacher has one-quarter time total extra help from an aide.
Another talented teacher finally quit his job when he had a year of 32 high school students, 10 of which needed individual education plans because they couldn’t keep up with the rest.
How fair is this to the teachers and to the students who need extra help?
The teachers won a B.C. Supreme Court case regarding class size and composition, but the government is fighting the ruling.
How much is this legal wrangling costing us taxpayers?
How many of you have given a birthday party for 32 children without extra help? Maybe if you did this, you only had to survive for four hours.
Then imagine how stressful it is when a teacher has to be with a large class day after day with some pupils who don’t want to be there at all, when library help, special needs aides, and English as a second language have been cut.
We need a good education system. The future of B.C. depends on it.
Marilyn Hansen
Summerland