Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We spend huge dollars on our Education department, almost 25 percent of our total $1.6 billion budget, and of the money appropriated for Education, Culture and Employment, $26.6 million is allocated to ensure our schools follow the ECE Inclusive Schooling Directive.
All classrooms are not created equal. Some have one or more special needs children who require a personal classroom assistant in addition to the classroom teacher for them to be able to be included in a regular classroom. That extra staffing requirement is funded by ECE through funds allocated to the authorities by a formula. NWT education authorities have recognized the unfairness of the current funding formula for inclusive schooling programs, and for years superintendents and board chairs have been asking ECE to revise the formula to make it better, to provide adequate funding to the boards that need it, but we have yet to see that happen.
The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment has promised several times that the department would look at an evaluation of the inclusive schooling funding formula. I believe an informal one was even done a few years ago, but nothing has changed. Neither MLAs nor school boards have seen any report. The latest comfort, I believe, we were given by the Minister of ECE around the issue of inclusive schooling funding was that it would be part of the Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative. The ERI Strategy is completed and public now and the action plan is currently being developed. Again, we have yet to see a report on the inclusive schooling funding formula.
Some education authorities are providing classroom assistants for their identified special needs students and funding them internally, tapping into their operating surplus to ensure these special needs students have adequate support in their classrooms. It must be recognized that our larger communities, because they have more services and programs than our smaller ones, attract families with special needs children who need that extra support both in and outside of school and that puts an extra financial burden on those education authorities. This financial burden is not currently acknowledged by the department, evidenced by the way it funds the education authorities at the moment, and these education authorities are being penalized for reaching out and trying to provide equitability for all the students in their regions.
I have to ask, when will we see revisions to the inclusive schooling funding formula that makes it fair for all authorities in the NWT?
I will have this question and others for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
