Students, parents, staff protest against public school spending cuts

Across Quebec, the school day started today with parents, students and staff members forming human chains in protest againstbudget belt-tightening they say is threatening the public education system.

AtWillingdonSchool inNotre-Dame-de-Grce, dozens of people held signs and chanted, "We're in this together," as passing drivers honked in support.

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Kathleen Usher, a science teacher at Willingdon, said the effects of budgetary restraints are already being felt at the school.

She said resource teacher positions were cut last year, and parents have really noticed the effects offewer resources available to students. She said teachers are worried about proposals to remove limits on class sizes.

"Already, we have over-full classes," she said. "Already, our teachers are really overtaxed in terms of their time and their energy."

Quebec public school teachers are currently in contract negotiations with the province.

The government is offering theteachersa new contract that includes a three per cent pay increase over five years. The teachers say they are still the lowest paid in the country.

School boards must 'make choices'

In an email statement, a spokeswoman for Education Minister Franois Blaissaid the government values publicschools, and the education ministry's efforts to improve governance and decentralize the education system reflect that.

Julie White said the cuts in school board budgets amount to about one per cent of the province's financial contribution, "in a context in which school boards have accumulated a surplus of about $800 million over the past several years."

"School boards are therefore called upon to make some choices and we expect the boards to keep the best interests of students at heart in their decision-making," the statement read.