Teachers, parents, students and taxpayers gathered across Nova Scotia to protest the government’s cuts to education.
While Sterling Belliveau was away in Halifax, that did not stop a group of protesters from Shelburne County to gather in protest in Barrington Passage.
Cries of kids not cuts, and schools aren’t broken they are broke could be heard by protesters lead by a young boy, Ryan Hiltz, from Evelyn Richardson Memorial Elementary School on a megaphone.
“We are protesting the $65-million cuts by the government,” said John Mackay, a teacher at Hillcrest Academy in Shelburne. “We are in year two of a three year plan…what are they going to cut next year.”
He said that if one teacher is cut in a rural school, seven programs are lost because of it.
“We want the MLA to get the message of taxpayers, teachers and parents and to represent us,” he said. “Tell the province the budget needs another look.”
While the trend in Nova Scotia is lowering enrollment, some of the schools in Shelburne County including Hillcrest Academy have had an increase in enrollment, something Mackay felt was not reflected in the budget.
“One size does not fit all,” he said. “We have real children with real needs…if we didn’t care about the kids we would not be here.”
He said that the group of protesters wants the government to treat education as an investment and not as an expense.
He invited the public to contact MLA Sterling Belliveau, to write a letter, fax, call and express concerns.
People can also sign a petition at kidsnotcuts.ca
