In August I accepted the position of education critic in Opposition Leader Carole James' shadow cabinet. My experience as both a teacher and an elementary school principal gives me the background to look beyond the numbers put forward by the Minister of Education to see the real impacts of the Liberal government's education policies. I believe in public education. And I believe in ensuring adequate funding to rural schools to avoid the cuts to services and school closures that we have seen across rural British Columbia.
In choosing an MLA from a rural area for this position, Carole James has shown that she too is deeply committed to protecting rural schools and to ensuring our access to a school system that meets the needs of our children.
During her five years as President of the B.C. School Trustees Association, she worked hard to support public education throughout the province. I feel very comfortable working with Carole James to present to British Columbians a better vision for our education system; a system that is properly funded to provide a quality education for all our children.
Since coming to power in 2001, the Liberals have consistently under-funded our public school system. More than 177 schools have been closed including many in this constituency. Some school districts have been forced to move to a four-day school week for purely budgetary reasons. Last year, over 10,000 classes in B.C. did not meet the government's own minimum standards for class size and composition. Special education supports have been cut.
And despite this, government claims that literacy is a priority, cuts to education funding have resulted in less teacher-librarians in our school system. Teacher-librarians are key to promoting literacy and a love of reading in our children and if this government really cared about literacy there would be more teacher-librarians, not less.
The Campbell government also forced the longest and most wide-spread education strike in the history of the province. Parents, teachers and support workers demanded a promise from the government for proper class composition and class size standards. But the Campbell Liberals broke that promise as well. Three years after the strike that saw people across the province rallying in support of teachers, classroom issues have still not been addressed.
Children, especially rural children, are not a priority for the Campbell Liberals. A province that has the highest child poverty rate in the country five years in a row is a province whose government does not care about children. I have not met a single person who would say that our record on child poverty can be defended, so we must demand that our government put children first.
A strong public education system allows all our children to reach their full potential. Along with good health and safety, quality public education is the greatest gift we can give our children. And it is the wisest investment a society can make.
Carole James and the NDP believe in a strong public education system. Seven years of a Liberal government has proven that Gordon Campbell does not share that view.