Quebec schools deserve reinvestment, group tells government

It's the first day of school for children at the English Montreal School Board, and a number of groups are using the occasion to denounce the Quebec government's education budget cuts.

A coalition of unions, schoolassociations and parentalgroups held a joint news conference on Sunday,calling on the provincial government to staunch the bleeding on education budgets.

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The group says it's "sounding the alarm" on budget cuts that have, they said, led to a lower quality of education in Quebec.

CorinnePayne of theFdrationdescomitsde parents duQubec, a parents'committee, said the group iscalling for a reinvestment in public schools.

"We can take the time necessary to arrive at azero deficitwithout destroying the amazing education system we have in Quebec right now. We can take the time to get there. Let's not destroy what we have," she said.

The Liberal government increased education funding in its latest budget by 0.2 per cent which, with the cost of inflation, essentially amounts toa cut.

"Yes, $1 billion seems like a lot, OK, but at the same time that's what's been cut over the past fiveyears," Payne said.

Toilet paper rations

JoseScalabrini, the president of a teachers' union federation, said some children won't be receiving their carton of milk in the morning, meaning some of them will go to class with nothing in their stomachs.

Payne said schools are trying to cut corners wherever they can, even going so far as to ration the amount of toilet paper children can use.

In the spring, the Lester B. Pearson School Board said it would have to let go ofall of its librarians due to budget cuts.

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Meanwhile, Education Minister Franois Blais has told school boards they should be able to absorb the cuts without affecting services for students, but Payne said that's not necessarilythe case.

LouiseChabot, president of the Central des syndicats du Qubec (CSQ), said the government is making a political choice by choosing not to invest in education.

"Enough is enough.It's unthinkable to believe that budget cuts won't affect services,"she said.