The New Brunswick Advocate has released this report, WAKE UP CALL Learning from the Education Budgeting Saga.
The Advocate shines an important and necessary light on the current stresses on our education system.
To ensure every New Brunswick student succeeds, our province has one of the strongest inclusion mandates nationally. However, it is significantly underfunded, which the Advocate points out.
He also points to something we have been advocating for: a system that needs to be less reactive and more proactive.
A clear example of this is the alarming rise in the number of partial school days for students who struggle with challenging behaviours. This, in fact, is something that the Advocate’s office has deemed illegal.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, as well as the Anglophone and Francophone School Districts, need to provide funding to schools based on student demographics.
Adequate resources (Teachers, Educational Assistants, Speech Language Pathologists) and funds should be distributed appropriately to enable educators to plan proactively, based on their students’ unique needs. The increased use of seclusion and restraints, along with partial days, reflects a system that is operating in a reactive manner, rather than proactively supporting students to succeed.
Rather than reacting to crises as they arise, we need to properly train and resource schools to support timely planning for students. Educators – like students – need the proper tools to succeed. What we want to see is accountability at all levels.
There are substantial inconsistencies on how students and families access integrated service delivery, especially now that they have been disbanded. Often, supports are only provided after significant data has been collected following a crisis, leaving students without the assessments or plans required for meaningful inclusion.
Many students began the school year on partial day plans because the planning and assessment to ensure a successful year has yet to happen. We can’t allow this to continue.
Education is a human right. It’s the law.
We need more resources, intentional investment, and a commitment to earlier interventions that provide the right support at the right time.
And as the Advocate points out, a more intentional and strategic application of existing funding.
– Jake Reid
Executive Director